Saudi Arabia: Cooking issues faced by Indian Haj pilgrims in Makkah

Hyderabad: For the past two days in the holy city of Makkah, Indian Haj pilgrims have had trouble cooking at their residence.

As a preventative move, Saudi officials began removing cooking gas cylinders from pilgrims’ lodging in the holy city’s Aziziah district. It is important to highlight that the majority of kitchen fire accidents were started by cooking equipment.

Since 2016, Saudi officials have been enforcing the cooking prohibition in Makkah’s Markaziah district, where Indian pilgrims were once housed. However, when the restriction was put into effect, Indian pilgrims’ lodgings were shifted to the Aziziah region, where cooking is permitted. As of Tuesday, 49,192 Indian pilgrims are camping in Aziziah, according to Indian authorities.

Accordingly, pilgrims were making food of their choice in the allocated kitchens on each floor of the structure. However, local officials discovered some pilgrims who were cooking in potentially dangerous undesignated portions of the structure. Official reports claim that Indian Haj authorities were collaborating with regional authorities to find a solution to the unforeseen cooking problem.

To minimise cooking, which is the cause of fire mishaps, Saudi officials have been stressing the usage of pre-packaged meals for pilgrims gradually. Due to the pilgrims’ varied dietary preferences and the fact that it required more money and logistical effort, Indian officials sought to offer ready-made food to them but were unsuccessful.