Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Committee to cut pilgrim numbers at Al Jamarat bridge
In a surprising move, the committee concerned with development of the holy places in Makkah decided to reduce the capacity of "Al Jamarat bridge" to 300,000 pilgrims per hour to reduce the pressure on the "Tawaf" area in the holy mosque of Makkah during the upcoming Haj season.
- By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
- Published: 00:07 August 7, 2008
Riyadh: In a surprising move, the committee concerned with development of the holy places in Makkah decided to reduce the capacity of "Al Jamarat bridge" to 300,000 pilgrims per hour to reduce the pressure on the "Tawaf" area in the holy mosque of Makkah during the upcoming Haj season.
This decision was taken with the knowledge that pilgrims will normally head towards the Tawaf area immediately after finishing the rite of throwing Al Jamarat stones.
The present capacity of Al Jamarat bridge is more than 500,000 pilgrims per hour, but it will be reduced to 300,000 pilgrims per hour to control the movement of pilgrims towards the holy mosque while performing the Tawaf rituals.
The Saudi government is currently planning to expand the holy mosque for the second time within four years, but this expansion which will include the Tawaf area is not expected to include the removal of Maqam [Shrine] of Ebrahim.
About 4.2 billion Saudi riyals (about Dh4.1 billion) were allocated by the Saudi government to carry out the expansion project at Al Jamarat bridge by constructing new levels. This project helped prevent any injuries or death from occurring among pilgrims, which had happened in previous years.
In a statement to Gulf News, the Director of Projects and Studies at the Presidency of Al Haram Mosque, Engineer Abdul Mohsin Bin Abdul Rahman Bin Humaid stressed that they would continue their efforts to provide all means of comfort for pilgrims to perform their rites with ease and to prevent stampedes and uncontrolled crowds, which have led to catastrophes in previous years.
"We do not want such events to occur anymore. For example when it was noticed that the existence of a line showing the starting point of Tawaf was causing crowds in the tawaf area, that line was removed," he noted.
He pointed out that the expansion project of Al Jamarat consists of a five storey bridge, with 11 entrances and 12 exits and said that there are several studies for the continuous development of Al Jamarat area.
According to him, these studies also include providing facilities for handicapped people to move easily and smoothly within the holy mosque.
Islamic magazines have been publishing articles nowadays about a controversial issue relating to whether it is allowed in view of Islamic teachings to move the Shrine of Ebrahim from its existing place in the Tawaf area to another place, in order to provide more room for worshippers while moving around the Ka'aba.
The present capacity of Al Jamarat bridge is more than 500,000 pilgrims per hour, but it will be reduced to 300,000 pilgrims.
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