Varanasi: A total of 2604 Haj pilgrims of this region left for the pilgrimage from Varanasi embarkation centre in last one week. The flights for Jeddah started on July 29 from the Lal Bahadur Shastri International airport, Babatpur.
The member of Central Haj Committee and coordinator at Varanasi embarkation centre Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad Javed said that among the Haj pilgrims 925 were from Varanasi district, 99 from Prayagraj, 593 from Azamgarh, 64 from Ballia, 144 from Chandauli, four from Deoria, 226 from Ghazipur, eight from Gorakhpur, one from Kaushambi, one from Maharajganj, 196 from Mau, 166 from Jaunpur, 82 from Mirzapur, 76 from Bhadohi, and 19 pilgrims from Sonbhadra district. Out of 2604 pilgrims 1349 were men, 1254 women and an infant girl child.
He said that for the first time four women have gone on the pilgrimage without Meharam from Varanasi. Besides, a 95-year-old woman and a 15-month-old girl have also gone on pilgrimage from the city.
He said that the first phase of the Haj pilgrimage completed successfully without any inconvenience to the pilgrims. The government has arranged excellent facilities including air–conditioned offices of central and state Haj committees, and passport sections at the Cultural Complex, Chowkaghat. Besides, a 250-bed water-proof pandal for men and 100-bed pandal for women, 160 toilets, and separate vazukhana form men and women were arranged. The government also arranged air-conditioned buses for the transportation of pilgrims from the Haj House to the airport.
