into the tent city of Mina.
They came in ones and twos, some on foot, some in
wheelchairs, many in buses and SUVs arranged by the
pilgrim establishments.
All roads and highways from Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh,
Dammam, Abha, Jazan and Taif were leading into Makkah
and Mina.
The first leg of the five-day Haj begins on Tuesday when all
pilgrims will spend the night in Mina before heading to
Arafat on Wednesday morning.
Under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, Deputy
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Makkah Gov.
Prince Khaled Al-Faisal have arranged foolproof safety and
security measures for the pilgrims.
Nearly 100,000 men in uniform are at the holy sites to make
the journey of a lifetime for nearly 2 million pilgrims safe
and secure.
“Haj is where you see near-perfect synchronization among
all government agencies, ministries and pilgrim
establishments,” said prominent Saudi analyst Sami Al-
Nwaiser. “It is gigantic task and the goal is to organize a
successful, smooth and hassle-free Haj.”
Traffic moved at a snail's pace on the Jeddah-Makkah
Expressway. In addition to the permanent security
checkpoint at Al-Shumaisy, there were four new checkpoints
to keep undocumented pilgrims away. The 85 km journey
from Jeddah to Makkah takes an hour in regular days. On
Monday, it took three hours.
At the Al-Shumaisy checkpoint, security personnel were
armed with latest high-tech gadgets that looked like iPads.
They were screening the permits on those machines.
All alternate routes to Makkah and the holy sites were
teeming with security forces in their vehicles, flashing with
blue beacons.
Inside Makkah, it was hot and windy. At 7:38 p.m., the
mercury was hovering at 40 degrees Celsius. In Mina, it was
a different scene. It rained on Monday evening bringing
down the temperature considerably. The maximum
temperature for Tuesday in Makkah has been forecast to be
46.
The Kingdom has spent billions of riyals improving
infrastructural facilities at Makkah, Mina, Arafat and
Muzdalifa, including trains, roads, telecom and electricity
networks.
“It is a mind-boggling exercise,” said Anwar Khursheed, a
first-time pilgrim from Pakistan, who teaches at Punjab
University. “Allah has conferred the highest honor of serving
the Two Holy Mosques on the Al-Sauds and they have done
everything that is humanly possible and doable to make the
journey of the guests of Allah comfortable.”
Source:arabnews
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