Hyderabad: The departure of pilgrims from the Telangana Haj Committee has reached its final stage. So far, 8,902 Haj pilgrims have left for Madinah Munawara on special Saudi Airlines flights, organized in 29 convoys from the Hyderabad Embarkation Point.
In addition to the 6,244 pilgrims from various districts of Telangana, the convoys included 823 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh, 930 from Karnataka, 591 from Maharashtra, 4 from Assam, 89 from Bihar, 59 from Chhattisgarh, 7 from Delhi, 3 from Gujarat, 1 from Jammu and Kashmir, 7 from Madhya Pradesh, 114 from Odisha, and 114 from West Bengal.
The Haj Committee of India authorized the pilgrims to choose their embarkation point. Of the total pilgrims, 4,584 are male and 4,305 are female.
On Monday, two convoys departed from the Haj camp at Haj House, Nampally. Regional Passport Officer J. Sneha flagged off the special buses carrying the pilgrims. She met with Telangana Haj Committee Chairman Maulana Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani Khusro Pasha and Executive Officer Sheikh Liaquat Hussain, expressing satisfaction with the arrangements at the Haj camp.
Chairman Khusro Pasha thanked the Regional Passport Office for the timely resolution of more than 1,000 passport applications. Executive Officer Liaquat Hussain and Assistant Executive Officer Irfan Sharif detailed the services provided by various departments at the Haj camp and airport.
Regional Passport Officer Sneha assured that any issues with passport issuance for Haj pilgrims would be addressed promptly. She congratulated the pilgrims and appealed for prayers for the progress of the country and the state.
The departure of pilgrims began on May 8 and will conclude on May 25 with the departure of the last, 38th convoy. This year, pilgrims from Telangana were honoured as the first Indian pilgrims to arrive on Saudi soil. Pilgrims are departing directly to Madinah instead of Makkah. After a seven-day stay in Madinah, they will proceed to Makkah.
A total of 11,464 pilgrims from 17 states will depart from the Hyderabad Embarkation Point. The first three caravans that left on May 8 stayed in Madinah for seven days before continuing to Makkah. Arrangements for the pilgrims include accommodation in a hotel adjacent to the courtyard of Masjid-e-Nabawi in Madinah, which has been well received.
The return of the pilgrims will begin on June 23, with the last convoy returning from Jeddah on July 24.
