JEDDAH, Oct 10( Arab News): A record number of Indian pilgrims, over 170,000, will perform this year's Haj, Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad told a press conference at the Consulate General of India.
The Indian diplomatic mission is coordinating arrangements for 125,000 pilgrims who will come through the Haj Committee of India (HCI), while another 45,491 will come through private India-based tour operators. “Our Haj quota is 160,000 as against 150,000 last year when 165,000 Indians performed Haj,” said Ahmad.
The first two batches of the 170,491 Indians who will perform Haj this year were due to arrive at King Abdulaziz International Airport's Haj Terminal in Jeddah and Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah late Saturday night. Two flights were expected, one from Indore carrying 180 pilgrims and a second from Guwahati carrying 210.
The flight to Madinah, operated by Al-Wafer airline, was originally to land in the afternoon, but was delayed due to “technical reasons,” Ahmad said.
For the first time in 45 years, India's national carrier Air India will not transport Haj pilgrims. Three Saudi carriers — Saudi Arabian Airlines, Al-Wafer and Nasair, will together operate 431 flights to bring in the pilgrims.
“The three Saudi carriers won bids for operating Haj flights following the issuance of global tenders by the government of India,” Ahmad said.
Air India lost out in the bidding process.
Starting Saturday, there will be an average of 14 flights carrying about 4,000 pilgrims a day till Nov. 9 from different embarkation points that include Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Kozhikode, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Ranchi, Varanasi, Patna and Srinagar.
During the arrival phase, 187 flights carrying 53,500 pilgrims will land in Jeddah and 244 flights with 70,500 pilgrims will land in Madinah.
During the departure phase, 255 flights carrying 75,000 pilgrims will depart from Jeddah and 176 flights carrying 49,000 pilgrims will depart from Madinah.
A total of 567 buildings have been rented so far to accommodate pilgrims in Makkah. The process of accommodation arrangements was delayed by three months due to demolitions around the Grand Mosque and HCI's preoccupation with its organizational matters, said the Indian ambassador.
Five states topping pilgrim numbers this time are Uttar Pradesh 30,000, Maharashtra 11,000, West Bengal 9,000, Kerala 8,000 and Jammu & Kashmir 7,000. “The average age of the pilgrims is 56, the same as last year,” Ahmad said
“We have completed hiring 93 percent of the buildings and finalizing the process for additional units required,” Ahmad said, adding that accommodation and other arrangements in Madinah have also been completed. Seventy percent of Indian pilgrims will be accommodated in the central area of the city.
“This year, all our pilgrims coming through HCI will be accommodated within the traditional boundaries of Mina and exclusive Mutawwifs will be earmarked for our pilgrims. Offices and dispensaries have been set up in Makkah, Madinah and the Haj Terminal that will operate round the clock.
The ambassador also made a plea to expatriates not to stay with their pilgrim relatives in Makkah and Madinah when visiting them, as that will inconvenience other pilgrims.
Ahmad said the consulate's website will be updated to provide real-time information about the pilgrims and their movements.