I would like to commend Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and the government of Saudi Arabia for making meticulous arrangements for the Haj this year. This was really a great occasion as nearly four million Muslims participated in Haj from around the world that required thorough arrangements. There were however certain areas like the exit routes from Arafat, Tawaf-e-Ziara and Tawaf-e-Wida where the rush was unprecedented and unmanageable, causing great inconvenience for the guests of Allah. I would make the following suggestions for improvements in the next Haj season so that inconvenience to pilgrims could be controlled/mitigated:
1) No. of pilgrims need to be reduced to a reasonable level that is compatible with available infrastructure.
2) People performing Haj without “Tasreeh” should be strictly banned. I believe these people number around half a million. A strict ban on them can alone reduce the pressure substantially.
3) The Haj bar ceiling should be increased from 5 to 10 years for the pilgrims.
4 The rush at train stations from Muzdalifah to Arafat and back reminded of the days during Rami of Jamarat in the past. Many people fell unconscious. It needs urgent attention to increase number of trains, allowing private/public transport, regulating people of different camps to go at different times.
5) More stringent monitoring of the facilities being provided by the Haj Tour Operators through surprise raids. There have been instances of many reputed tour operators selling their customers to other operators with least facilities.
6) One major and permanent problem has been lack of public transport between Mina and Makkah during the Haj season. This causes great problem for the women and old or sick pilgrims as anybody coming from Haram to H-Block Mina has to cover a distance of about 9-12 kms on foot. The government should seriously look into this issue and introduce some public transport system from the last corner of Mina to Haram. Currently, taxi drivers are simply looting the guests of Allah by charging exorbitantly and dropping them far behind what is agreed at the time of hiring taxis. — Tahir Nadeem, By e-mail
