Crowd crisis

New Delhi, June 13: Saudi Arabian authorities have requested India to send fewer Haj pilgrims this time because of a space crunch, but the committee that looks after the pilgrimage is hoping it can keep the number the same as last year.

The Saudi Arabian Haj authorities made the request to the Haj Committee of India, a central government body entrusted with the pilgrimage of 1.10 lakh Indians, saying there was a crisis of accommodation around the main mosque of Haram Shareif.

“We are looking for alternative accommodation and the Haj Committee of India is hopeful that we can send 1.10 lakh pilgrims this year too,” said committee chairman Iqbal Ahmed Sardagi, accepting that construction work had caused shortage of space near the main mosque.

“Good places for the stay of pilgrims have been identified around 7-8km from the main mosque and we would be running shuttle services for helping the pilgrims,” he added.

Last year, there were 157,000 pilgrims — 110,000 went through the Haj committee and 47,000 through private travel agents — from India. The country comes third on pilgrim count, behind Indonesia and Pakistan.

Sardagi said this year there were 2.77 lakh applications. With accommodation scarce, charges for the stay are likely to go up and the government will have to rework its calculation of accommodation cost.

Pilgrims who travel through government agencies and enjoy subsidies may have to shell out more to stay in Makkah Mukarramah, which is close to the main mosque.

“There could be an increase of Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500 per person. But we are still making assessments and the exact amount will be known later,” a source said.

The rent for the Green category of accommodation — within 1,000 meters of the outer periphery of Haram Shareif — was estimated at 3,000 Saudi riyals at the time the committee invited applications for the pilgrimage. The White category — between 1,000 and 1,600 metres — was expected to cost 2,200 Saudi riyals for each pilgrim. One Saudi riyals equals Rs 11.4.

“Due to the Mukarramah Development & Expansion of Haram Shareif Project, there is a shortfall of about one lakh accommodation units under the Green Category alone,” said an official.

The rise in the rent comes after the oil price rise led to speculation that the Haj fares might be raised. Each pilgrim is now charged Rs 12,000 as airfare, an amount that has stayed constant since 1994.

The government spends Rs 350 crore a year as Haj subsidy. Some 2.5 million people go on Haj every year from all over the world, including Saudi Arabia.