Sambalpur, October 19: Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday visited several Durga Puja pandals here, offering prayers to Goddess Durga and extending festive greetings to the people of the State.

He prayed for the state’s happiness, peace and prosperity and said the blessings of the Goddess should remain on everyone.

The former Union Minister first offered prayers at Raneswar Ramachandi Peetha at Lapanga and participated in the Nabaratra Puja at Gambhari; then he visited Sakhipada, Jail Chhak. Dhanupali and Zilla School puja pandals pandal. Pradhan also visited the Kalibadi puja pandal which completes 108th year.

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Former Rengali MLA and senior BJP leader Nauri Naik, several party leaders, organisers, eminent citizens and devotees were present during the visit.

At each venue, he had darshan of Goddess Durga, offered prayers

Yesterday, Pradhan visited puja pandals in Anugola districts and offered prayers to the Goddess Durga.

Meanwhile, Odisha police on Sunday reviewed crowd management, emergency evacuation and public safety arrangements across the state during the festive rush after 19 devotees died in a stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata on Saturday.

DGP (in-charge) Vinaytosh Mishra directed Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissionerate police and district SPs to revisit their crowd-control and security plans. Accordingly, police have sought the cooperation of puja committees in deploying an adequate number of volunteers to assist in crowd regulation and ensure smooth movement of devotees.

Police also appealed to devotees to maintain discipline, follow queue systems and traffic guidelines and cooperate with police personnel to ensure a safe and smooth darshan experience of Goddess Durga at puja pandals.