Hyderabad, September 26: The Andhra Pradesh State Haj Committee has finalised the arrangements for the Haj Camp scheduled to begin on Tuesday at the Haj House at Nampally.
Minorities Welfare Minister Mohammad Ahmadullah on Monday reviewed the arrangements for the Haj Camp at a meeting attended by Haj Committee chairman Syed Khaleeluddin Ahmed and other SHC members. During the meeting, the officials discussed the possible impact of on-going general strike on the Haj Camp.
SHC chairman Khaleeluddin Ahmed told INN that the Haj pilgrims will start reporting at the Haj Camp from 11 am onwards on Tuesday. As many as 7200 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh and 780 pilgrims from Bidar and Gulbarga districts of Karnataka would leave for the holy journey through Haj Camp. A total of 342 pilgrims of Anantapur will go for Haj via Bengaluru.
The first flights of Haj pilgrims will leave for Holy Madina from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on September 30 at 3.30 am. However, the pilgrims’ first convoy would leave for the airport at 11.30 pm on September 29. As many as 300 pilgrims, mostly hailing from districts, will be part of first convoy. The Saudi Airlines would be operating 26 special flights from the RGIA. Two flights to be operated on October 2 and 3 will directly fly to Jeddah.
The pilgrims of Karnataka will leave for Haj on October 11 and 12. The last flight of Haj pilgrims from the state will be on October 16. After performing Haj, the pilgrims will start returning from Nov 13 to Dec 01.
On an average, 600 – 1000 pilgrims will stay in the Haj House on daily basis from September 27 till the end of camp. However, more than 1200 pilgrims would be staying on October 10 as there would three flights on that particular day.
The SHC has expressed concern over the on-going general strike which could affect the arrival of pilgrims from various districts to the Haj Camp. The SHC has advised the pilgrims to come to the Haj Camp by forming groups and hire private vehicles. They have also been asked to place a banner in Telugu and English stating ‘Haj pilgrims’ in front of the vehicles so that their movement is not obstructed due to the strike. The State Government has also instructed the police to ensure that the Haj pilgrims do not face any difficulties en-route Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, the Haj Committee is trying to arrange private buses to transport pilgrims from the Haj House to the RGIA at Shamshabad in view of RTC strike. Khaleeuddin said all efforts were being made to ensure that the pilgrims perform the annual Haj without any major problems.
–Agencies