JEDDAH, 22 November 2006 — The first Indian flights for the upcoming Haj are scheduled to arrive today. The first flight from Srinagar will arrive at the Haj Terminal at 5:15 p.m., while flights from Nagpur, Lucknow and New Delhi will land at Madinah airport later today.
Some 157,000 pilgrims are expected to arrive from India, 107,000 of them through the Haj Committee of India and 47,000 through private tour operators. This is the largest number of pilgrims to arrive from India for Haj so far, making India the second largest country to send pilgrims to the Kingdom after Indonesia.
“We reached our quota of 147,000 pilgrims last year,” Consul General Ausaf Sayeed told Arab News yesterday. “The quota is based on our 2001 census and we made a request for 10,000 more pilgrims due to increasing demand.”
About 45,910 pilgrims are arriving in Madinah and others are set to arrive at the Haj Terminal. Pilgrims will arrive from 15 different embarkation points in more than 325 scheduled flights.
Air-India is handling flights from Calcutta, Nagpur, Jaipur, Srinagar and Calicut, while Saudi Arabian Airlines will be handling services from Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Madras, New Delhi, Lucknow and Bombay.
In view of the massive construction in the Makkah region for the Haram expansion project, pilgrims from India and other countries are being accommodated in the special townships of Azizia and Sheesha, which have new and spacious buildings, in addition to the traditional areas around the Holy Haram.
A “qualitative improvement” in Madinah accommodation is likely this year as more than 40 percent of the pilgrims will be staying in buildings located in the Marakazia area, in the immediate proximity of the Masjid-e-Nabawi.
For the first time, the consulate will provide a printed “Practical guide for Indian Hajis” in English, Urdu, Hindi and Malayalam to pilgrims on their arrival at the airports in the Kingdom. These guides are also available in the electronic form in Tamil and Gujarati languages on the consulate’s website http://www.cgijeddah.com.
Extensive medical arrangements have been made for the welfare of the pilgrims, with 135 doctors and 146 paramedics having been deputed by the Indian government to take care of the medical needs of the pilgrims with a provision of a huge stock of medicines. Twelve branch dispensaries have been set up in Makkah as against 10 last year in addition to the main hospital in the Ajyad area. Total inpatient capacity has been increased from 50 beds last year to 65 beds.
In Madinah, five branch dispensaries have been set up in addition to the main hospital. The overall inpatient capacity in the two holy cities has been increased threefold since 2005. The special medical FIR system for pilgrims over the age of 70, which was introduced last year, is being continued and improved this year.
For the maintenance of pilgrim data and allotment of buildings, computer cells have been set up in Jeddah and Madinah. Pilgrims have been advised to be aware of their blood groups and carry their medical records.
A staff of 171 assistants, 51 officers and three coordinators will oversee the various administrative arrangements. Special task forces will oversee the transportation arrangements in the Sheesha and Azizia areas, and also guide the pilgrims in the Haram area.
Guides on schooter will be deployed to extend help in the transportation of old and infirm pilgrims.
