JEDDAH/MADINAH: Air India will commence its operation of transporting back Indian Haj pilgrims from Madinah on Friday, three days behind its original schedule that was to start today.

“What we did in Jeddah — suspending the return operations by three days to clear the backlog of pilgrims at the Haj Terminal — is being done in Madinah,” Air India’s Regional Manager Deepak Anand told Arab News. The postponement had been conveyed to the pilgrims, he added.

About 17,500 Indian pilgrims will be flown back through Jan. 19 to New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Nagpur on 46 flights.

Some pilgrims rang up Arab News to express their pleasure over the delay. Qazi Anas of Dhanbad, of Jharkhand state, said his family of six was scheduled to fly on Wednesday but now it will be on Saturday. “We are happy as we get three more days to spend in the holy city,” he added.

But there were others who expressed their disappointment. Sarwar Usmani from Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, said he was not happy about his extended stay because he had no cash for his four-member family.

“We were due to fly back on Thursday, but as yet I have not received any information through the Haj Committee of India (HCI) about the new date for our departure,” he added.

There are other pilgrims who are in a similar predicament. Some of the pilgrims are government employees who came here on short vacation. “We will face disciplinary action if we extend our leave,” one of them said.

Pilgrims also complained about inadequate arrangements made by the HCI for their stay in Madinah. While some said they had to stay far away from the Prophet’s Mosque, some others said the accommodation provided to them was far beyond their expectations.

Muhammad Sirajuddin, a pilgrim from northern India, said he was aware of 455 pilgrims who were affected by the postponement of flights to Kolkata.

Another pilgrim, Abdul Qader, said the accommodation given to him and his family lacked basic services, including safe drinking water. “And we are put up far away from the Prophet’s Mosque,” he said. “The pilgrims who are old and infirm have a great difficulty in reaching the mosque.”

Noor Mohammed, a pilgrim from Bihar, said he paid a total Haj fee of 95,000 rupees to the HCI for first-grade service. “But I received a raw deal as I am in a very old building,” he said.

Staying in shabby buildings is making some pilgrims sick, he added.

B.S. Mubarak, consul (Haj, P&I) at the Consulate General of India, said 60 percent of the pilgrims had been provided accommodation around the Prophet’s Mosque while the rest were staying within a distance of 850 meters from the Haram. “Those who come first (from Makkah) get accommodated around the Haram area,” he added.

— With input by Yousuf Muhammad