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Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly offered prayers to Goddess Durga and participated in the Maha Ashtami Aarti in Behala on Monday, marking the occasion of Maha Ashtami and Maha Navami.
Speaking to reporters, Ganguly said that Maha Ashtami holds special significance for Bengalis as part of the Durga Puja celebrations. "It's the time of Durga Puja, Maha Ashtami. It is a big puja occasion for the Bengalis, for us. So today is the day of Ashtami; the puja has just happened," he said. Notably, amidst the Durga Puja celebrations, Kolkata witnessed a tragic incident on Saturday as a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal claimed 19 lives and left at least 25 injured. Ganguly described the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede as very tragic and very unfortunate and urged visitors to exercise caution while travelling to pandals amid large crowds during Durga Puja and to ensure they return safely after offering prayers. "Very tragic, very tragic, you people saw it. So many people have died; it's very, very unfortunate. You have to travel carefully; it's so crowded. Durga Puja, so many pandals and so many people. So you have to travel carefully; you have to go see the idols and come back carefully," he said while speaking to reporters. Meanwhile, West Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh on Sunday emphasised that the government, alongside the Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and police officials, is maintaining a vigilant watch to prevent any recurrence of the Chorbagan tragedy. Speaking to reporters about the measures taken after the Chorbagan stampede, Ghosh said, The Chief Minister, along with other ministers and police officials, is keeping a close watch on the various religious observances to ensure that no such incident recurs. (ANI)
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