Twelve centenarians will be among the nearly 157,000 Indians performing the annual Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia this year.
The oldest among them will be a 108-year-old woman from Maharashtra, Dr Ausaf Sayeed, the Indian Consul General in Jeddah, told PTI on Wednesday.
Of the 157,000, 110,000 are undertaking the pilgrimage through the Central Haj Committee and the rest 47,000 through private operators, Sayeed said, adding that all necessary arrangements for receiving the pilgrims have been made.
A total of 350 flights from 15 embarkation points will carry the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, with the first being from Lucknow on November 11. Flights from Nagpur (to Jeddah-170 pilgrims), Kolkata (to Madinah-423 pilgrims), and Srinagar (to Jeddah-215 pilgrims) will also arrive on the first day.
A new embarkation point, Varanasi, has been included this year, officials said.
Air India will carry pilgrims from Jaipur, Srinagar, Kolkata, Guwhati, Patna, Varanasi, Lukhnow, Kozhikode, Nagpur while the Saudi Arabian Airlines will carry pilgrims from Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad, Sayeed said.
The Saudi Ministry of Haj has announced that the first day of arrival of foreign pilgrims at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Muhammad ibn Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah has been fixed for November 11. Pilgrims will continue to arrive at both the airports until December 14.
The last date for pilgrims who arrive in Makkah first to travel to Madinah will be December 5 by bus and December 12 by air. The final date for pilgrims to come from Madinah to Makkah by bus will be December 15 and by air via Jeddah will be December 16. The closing date for departing pilgrims has been fixed for January 24.
"This year more than 85 per cent pilgrims will stay in the traditional boundaries of Makkah as compared to about 60 per cent last year. The Mission is fully geared to make all the arrangements for the pilgrims and has had a series of discussions with various Saudi authorities," Sayeed said.
The Saudi authorities are taking a number of measures for facilitating the pilgrimage. The Haj Terminal at Jeddah is being renovated and modernised while the Jamarat bridge in Mina is being expanded to facilitate the smooth movement of pilgrims during the 'Rami' ritual.
Indian officials have made adequate arrangements in Mina for providing all possible services to the pilgrims, including food, blankets and pillows as also medical facilities.
Ambulances in the service of the pilgrims have been increased this year from 9 to 17, Sayeed said, adding that 135 doctors and 146 paramedics will be sent by the Ministry for the Medical Mission.
Meanwhile, Saudi Ministry of Health will establish computer links between hospitals and pharmacies in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah to help doctors ascertain the availability of drugs and medicines.Saudi diplomatic missions abroad have been instructed to issue Haj visas only to pilgrims that have vaccination certificates against meningitis and, depending on the country, other diseases such as yellow fever.
