8m litres of Zamzam handed at Grand Mosque

Cairo: Around 8 million litres of the holy Zamzam water were distributed at the Grand Mosque in the Saudi city of Mecca in the first 10 days of the Muslim sacred month of Ramadan, local media reported.

The distribution is part of a round-of-the clock service system undertaken by the General Presidency for Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.

Zamzam packets are distributed to worshippers at prayer places inside the mosque, the courtyard housing the holy Kaaba and outer spaces of the holy site.

The Islamic lunar month of Ramadan, which started this year on April 2, is usually the peak season of umrah or lesser pilgrimage perform at the Grand Mosque.

As part of services at the mosque, works of disinfection and spraying fragrance have been intensified at the site for Ramadan. Over 4,000 workers washed the mosque 100 times in the past 10 days, Al Watan newspaper reported. Each time, 1.3 million litres of disinfectants and 25,000 litres of fragrance were used, it added.

The sterilisation process is undertaken round the clock across the vast mosque to which Muslims from around the globe flock round the year.

Saudi authorities have recently eased measures for performing umrah as the kingdom has largely relaxed restrictions against COVID-19.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has lifted several precautionary measures including cancellations of permits for praying at the Grand Mosque and visiting the Prophet’s Mohammed Mosque in Medina.

The Ministry has also said the immunisation check to enter both holy sites has been scrapped for all worshippers.

The ministry has, moreover, cancelled the once-obligatory registration of immunisation data for overseas Muslims to get an umrah permit.

Estimated 2 million pilgrims undertook umrah at the Grand Mosque in the first part of Ramadan.