The swine flu threat that loomed large before Haj 2009 in the end did not disrupt the pilgrimage, according to Indian Consul General Sayeed Ahmed Baba. “Before the Haj everybody was really worried about what would happen because of the swine flu pandemic – what turn it would take, whether it would affect the pilgrims in large numbers, and if so what could be done. Things were uncertain and unpredictable and precautions were taken,” Baba told Saudi Gazette prior to a function to honor mutawwifs at the head office of Muttawwify Hujjaj South Asia Est., (South Asian Moassassa Est.) in Makkah Sunday night. Baba said that there were three swine flu deaths among those who came from India to perform Haj, but that they were chronically ill people who developed complications and ultimately died. He added that overall, unlike the previous Haj, less than 300 Indian pilgrims died of natural causes and accidents. The number of pilgrims from India did not decrease because of swine flu. “In fact we asked for and received an additional quota of 5,500, which was fully utilized. Of the total 120,500 Indian pilgrims, 5,500 were additional,” he said. Zaki O. Hariri, member of the board of Muttawwify Hujjaj South Asia Est., and unit director of India, agreed that despite the swine flu threat, there was an actual increase in the number of pilgrims coming from India. “India and other South Asian countries asked for increases in their quotas and got them,” he added. For the next year, he said plans are underway to improve services for all pilgrims, especially those coming from India. “Services will be improved in every way – buildings, accommodation, tents, transportation, and so forth will all be better than before,” he said. Baba said that Haj 2009 was one of the smoothest Haj experiences including the arrival in Makkah and the stay in Mina even though there was heavy rain on Nov. 25, the day before Arafat. “We were delighted to see that the drainage system was so good at Mina that not a single drop of water entered the tents. All the water flowed out into the drains which was a great relief,” he said. He added that stoning at Jamarat was also free of incidents because of the vigorous awareness campaigns that were conducted for pilgrims in India as well as in the Kingdom. “We did not face many problems with pilgrims carrying baggage to the Jamarat. They were aware that it was not safe to do so. This worked out very well this year,” he said. “The only problem was the departure phase,” the consul general said, adding that, “every year Jeddah airport gets congested because of so many aircraft trying to fly out in the first week after the Haj.” “We took a strategic decision that this year Air India would operate only three to four flights in the first week and then start to increase the number gradually. But still there was congestion and all the airlines were affected including Saudi Arabian Airlines,” Baba said. One step that was taken to ease congestion at the airport in Jeddah was to fly some pilgrims directly from Madina to India, which was very good, he said. Baba expressed happiness and satisfaction with the mutawwifs, maktabs and the staff for providing high-quality services during the entire Haj, especially the departure phase, “which was excellent as they worked jointly with our own staff, and offices, and things went very well”.
