"The municipality is keen on doing its maximum to make a success of the Haj plans and has set up additional teams to ensure the cleanliness of the city and the holy sites. The teams have also been supplied with water pumps and trucks so that water is pumped out from streets and cleaned if there are seasonal rains," said Abdul Salam Mushat, undersecretary for services at the mayor's office.

He added that the teams are also capable of handling contingencies such as floods and fire accidents.

During the Haj season the municipality has fanned out 16,000 workers in the city and the holy sites to work round the clock. They are supported by 230 dumpsters, 320 hydraulic trucks and 55 bulldozers and hundreds of water trucks and vacuum cleaning equipment.

The waste will be dumped in 131 locations, which have a combined capacity to hold 5,250 tons of garbage. Over the past week 15,000 tons of garbage has been removed by the cleaners in the city. The intensified cleaning operations will continue until Dec. 5, the official said.