Around 100,000 Indian pilgrims will be able to use the Mashaer Haj metro system. Speaking to Arab News Sunday, Indian Haj Consul Shaikh Mohammed Noor Rahman said that 50,532 pilgrims had arrived on Friday and a further 4,966 had arrived on Saturday.
He said that all 13 branch offices in Makkah and Madinah were up and running.
Pilgrims will continue to come into the Kingdom until Oct 9. The last departing flight carrying pilgrims from the Kingdom is scheduled to leave on Nov 18.
Around 13,000 pilgrims are above the age of 70. The oldest pilgrim, Ismail from Haryana, is 107 years old. The second oldest Indian pilgrim, from Gujarat, is 102 years old and has yet to arrive.
A 50-bed hospital in Makkah, a 30-bed hospital in Azizia and several desks have been set up. Nearly 40 tons of medicine have been brought from India.
There are currently 25 patients at the main dispensary in Makkah, of which one has hypertension and the other paralysis.
In Makkah 3,494 patients were treated in the outpatients department and 15,136 in Madinah for muscular pain and fever.
There are 146 doctors and 150 paramedics. Muhammad Basher Khan says the medical facilities include sonography, radiology, laboratory, X-ray facilities and equipment for minor surgeries. There are nine specialist doctors. Khan, who arrived on Sept. 19 and is awaiting assignment, said: “It is an honor to serve the pilgrims.”
There is also a private tour operators desk at the main office. Muhammad Khwajmuddin of the defense account department in Lucknow said they all have experience in auditing documentation. “We study the agreements made with pilgrims and verify them,” he explained. He pointed out that PTO pilgrims can only avail themselves of OPD facilities.
Both Makkah and Madinah will have a lost baggage section. There have been 102 lost baggage claims in Makkah and 236 cases in Madinah, of which all were resolved with the exception of seven cases in Madinah.
Pilgrims are offered monetary relief of up to SR1,700 for lost and stolen items. There were 1,100 cases of stolen money and 100 cases of lost baggage last year.
Pilgrims in Makkah have bought 587 sacrificial coupons and 2,119 have been purchased in Madinah.
Rahman has said that nine Haj pilgrims have died in Madinah and two in Makkah.
100,000 Indian Hajis to ride Mashaer trains
