Deputy Indian Consul General and Haj Consul Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh addresses a press conference at the Makkah office of the Indian Haj mission, Wednesday evening. Next to him is Mohd. Shahid Alam, Haj consul designate. — SG photo Hassan Cheruppa Saudi Gazette
With the last flight touching down at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah at 2 a.m. Friday, all the pilgrims from India arrived for Haj, according to Deputy Consul General and Haj Consul Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh. The last batch of 300 pilgrims from Ranchi arrived on board the NAS Air flight. “The Indian Haj mission has put in place all arrangements to ensure a smooth and hassle-free Haj. The Saudi authorities have commended the excellent arrangements made by the mission,” he said while addressing a press conference at the Makkah office of the mission on Wednesday evening. A total of 136,020 Indians are performing Haj this year, of which 100,020 came through Central Haj Committee and 36,000 under Private Tour Operators (PTO). Sheikh praised the Saudi authorities for their full support to the pilgrims. “We are very grateful to the Saudi authorities for the best ever services and support being extended to the mission and the pilgrims, especially for those injured in Friday's crane crash tragedy.” He said the number of Indian pilgrims killed in the tragedy reached 12. The body of the missing pilgrim from Maharashtra Alawuddin was identified on Tuesday. Haider Sharafuddin, another missing pilgrim from Maharashtra, is still untraced. All the dead pilgrims were buried in Makkah. A total of 31 Indian pilgrims were injured in the accident, of which 19 were admitted to King Faisal Hospital, King Abdulaziz Hospital and Al-Noor Specialist Hospital. All of them are in stable condition. Fourteen pilgrims, who sustained minor injuries, were discharged from the Indian mission hospitals after treatment. “We deployed a doctor and an Arabic interpreter at each government hospital and they were in close contact with the hospital staff. This arrangement enabled the mission to get the precise information about the condition of pilgrims,” he said. Sheikh said that the Ministry of Health authorities praised the mission for its excellent service for the pilgrims. “An inspection team from the ministry visited our hospitals and dispensaries and they were very much impressed by the facilities and services,” he claimed adding that the ministry officials commended that the arrangements are one of the best being provided by all Haj missions. Sheikh met with Assistant Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Muhammad Al-Dowaili at Al-Noor Hospital Wednesday night and was briefed on the arrangements of the health wing of the mission, which is comprised of 145 doctors and 150 paramedics at two 40-bed hospitals, one each in Makkah and Aziziyah, in addition to 13 branch dispensaries. The Haj consul also held talks with Deputy Minister of Haj Dr. Muhammad Talal Simsim on Thursday. Their talks mainly focused on the vast arrangements made for the movement of around 60,000 pilgrims staying in Aziziyah to the Grand Mosque to perform Juma prayers today. Sheikh said that all Indian pilgrims who came through Haj Committee will have Mashair train facility. More than 78,000 pilgrims have purchased Adahi coupon for sacrificial animal under the Islamic Development Bank's Sacrificial Meat Utilization Project. The pilgrims have been allotted tents in Souk Al-Arab and Jawhara Street areas in Mina. He said that the overall health condition of pilgrims is good. So far, 60 pilgrims have died, and these included 12 in crane crash and eight pilgrims who came through PTOs. “Three pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh state delivered babies in Makkah, of which one was caesarian,” he said. The consul also explained the high tech arrangements to disseminate information and locate accommodation. “There were 36,000 downloads on mobile apps introduced by the Haj mission, and this is a significant figure compared to the figure of 7,000 last year. Complaints were very less compared to previous years. Whenever we received a complaint, we resorted to a quick addressing system.” On the pilgrims accommodation, he said that 96 percent of units in Green category buildings are with attached bathrooms while 77 percent of buildings in Aziziyah are attached. There were some complaints about water shortage in some buildings and we addressed it in a short span of time,” he said. While explaining the great advantages of standardized baggage introduced for the first time this year, he said that making baggage with different colors for pilgrims from various states is under consideration to solve the problems faced by some pilgrims for identifying their baggage. The press conference was also attended by Muhammad Shahid Alam, Haj consul designate, and officials of the Makkah Haj mission office.
