Speaking over phone from Saudi Arabia, Hyderabad resident Md Fareed told TOI that many pilgrims had developed blisters on their feet, were running high temperature, suffered sunstroke, and fainted mid-way owing to the scorching heat.
“The lack of buses only compounded the problem. We walked for over 7.5 km to reach Arafat from Mina,” said Fareed, adding, “I got blisters on my feet and my wife fainted as we walked for over 40km during the pilgrimage.”
The Musheerabad resident is among the 300 who have completed their Haj and are waiting to board flights back to their home country this weekend.
Many pilgrims from Telangana said that they had to wait for 8 to 10 hours for buses to arrive. “The main problem was with transportation. Hundreds of pilgrims from the city had to wait for hours to get a bus. Many even fainted during the wait,” said one of the 41 khadims, who travelled from Hyderabad to assist Hajis.
He also claimed that they had to walk for long hours without food and water. “As a result, many pilgrims, especially those who are diabetic and have blood pressure issues, suffered during their pilgrimage,” he added.
While Telangana State Haj Committee officials agreed to lack of amenities on day 1, they said that they were resolved subsequently. “There was an issue with food and accommodation initially as most of the buildings are used only during Haj. It took us about 18 hours to get them resolved. Moreover, many had to wait for over eight hours to board a bus to perform Haj,” said Shaik Liyakat Hussain, CEO, Haj Committee.
Officials said the problem with transportation arose as the contract this time was given to two agencies instead of one like every year. “Also, the buses were getting stuck in traffic as lakhs of pilgrims were at Haj,” the official added.
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