Tent City of Mina braces up to receive over 2 million pilgrims

Makkah: The huge tent city of Mina is all braced up to receive more than two million pilgrims of whom about 1.8 million have come from different parts of the world.
The pilgrims will proceed to Mina Wednesday, a mountainous valley which is about five km east of Makkah in what is called Youm Al-Tarwiya (Day of Watering). Some of them will be in Mina from Tuesday night. All government and private institutions concerned with the Haj services have completed their arrangements to receive the pilgrims and provide them with consummate services that will enable them perform their Haj rites in ease, peace and comfort. The Supreme Authority for the Development of Makkah (SADM) announced that about 22 development projects in the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah have been completed for the guests of God for this year’s Haj season.
According to the authority, among others, the projects include a pedestrian bridge to the west of Al-Wadi (valley) hospital in Mina, shading the pedestrian road from Al-Aziziyah district in Makkah to the Jamarat area in Mina, establishment of many new toilets, installation of six new meat grinders in the modern slaughterhouse in Muaisem, setting up of water sprinkles in the Jamarat area to freshen the air, shading of the roads leading to train stations and completion of a station to process the carcuss of the slaughtered animals.
In Muzdalifah, a number of bridges have been erected to separate the roads of the pedestrians from the buses of the Turkish pilgrims. The roads of the shuttle transport for the Iranian and non-Arab African pilgrims have been adjusted to ensure smooth flow of traffic and a number of new toilets established. In Arafat, the pedestrian roads have been protected by barricades and cement walls while surveillance cameras have been installed in Namira Mosque to monitor the movements in and outside the mosque.
In Arafat, where the pilgrims will stand on Thursday at the Haj climax, a solid concrete ladder has been constructed in the northern part of Jabl Al-Rahma (Mountain of Providence) to enable pilgrims to climb it easily and the movement of pilgrims to the mountain hass separated from the tents of the Iranian pilgrims. More than 95 percent of the pilgrims who were in Madinah to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and pray at his mosque left the Prophet’s City amid tears to assemble in Makkah. About 2,200 buses carrying more than 85,000 pilgrims left Madinah for Makkah on Sunday.
As many as 1,340 pilgrims from Qatar have arrived in he Kingdom by land through the Salwa border post. They are being hosted by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman as his personal guests. Over 1,300 pilgrims from about 80 countries have arrived in the Kingdom as special guests of the King who has also hosted relatives of the martyrs in Palestine, Egypt and Sudan to perform Haj this year.
HA/IINA