MAKKAH: More than 700,000 worshippers will be able to pray at the same time when the 12,000 additional sq. meters of courtyard around the Grand Mosque is completed, bringing the grand total to 300,000 sq. meters.
The Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques established a special division to take care of the courtyards of the Grand Mosque in 1979. Its 180 permanent workers assisted by 70 temporary laborers organize and supervise the activities at the courtyards round the clock. These workers also drive peddlers and beggars away from the courtyard and the paths leading to it besides keeping ready the area for five obligatory prayers a day. In the month of Ramadan, the workers also supervise food distribution for breaking fast in collaboration with other related departments.
There is a special department with 298 workers to regulate the entry and exit of worshippers in the Grand Mosque through the 138 gates. While 27 seasonal laborers help to operate the gates during most of the year, in Ramadan 400 more workers are recruited. There are six escalators near these gates in addition to two internal escalators. There are 13 doors for the use of visitors with special needs.
A number of new doors to the Souq Saghir tunnel have been opened in the yards opposite to the King Abdul Aziz Gate and King Fahd Gate. There are also new stairs and escalators installed close to these doors. With a permanent staff of 51 and 75 seasonal workers, the wheelchairs department regulates and monitors the supply of wheelchairs to the pilgrims with special needs and the old on a round-the-clock basis. The officials also do not allow people bringing their own private wheelchairs to the Masaa (space for ritual running between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah) and other locations.
The full commissioning of the ground floor of the Masaa and partial opening of the first and second floors this month have been greatly helpful to pilgrims. When its construction on all the three floors will be completed the Masaa will cover a total area of 89,000 sq. meters with a capacity for 120,000 pilgrims per hour. The size of the Masaa, until last year when the expansion began, was 29,400 sq. meters accommodating 44,000 pilgrims an hour. The Masaa has an underground gate to the eastern side of the courtyard.
