GUWAHATI: As many as 3594 pilgrims from the Northeast would be attending the annual Haj pilgrimage at Mecca in Saudi Arabia, with the first batch of 150 leaving the city by an afternoon flight on Thursday.
According to the Northeast Haj Pilgrims Reception Committee, 3515 pilgrims are from Assam, 55 from Meghalaya, 22 from Nagaland while four are from Arunachal Pradesh. Of the pilgrims, 2432 are male and 1162 female.
“Batches of 150 Haj pilgrims would be leaving for Mecca everyday till July 17. The first batch left the city have by a flight at 1.30 pm today. We have set up a facilitation camp at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here for various services such as currency exchange, immigration, et al for the convenience of the pilgrims,” Altaf Hussain, chairman of the reception committee told media persons on Thursday.
According to sources, 200 volunteers have been engaged for hassle-free facilitation of the pilgrims.
City police commissioner, Deepak Kumar told the media that requisite security and traffic arrangements have been made for the convenience of the Haj pilgrims.
