Haj pilgrims in spot after cancellation of direct flights

GUWAHATI: Haj pilgrims from Assam, especially the elderly and first-time travellers, are in a spot as direct flights from Guwahati to Jeddah have been 'scrapped'.
Guwahati was the embarkation point for about 6,000 passengers but now the Haj pilgrims from Assam have been asked to board the flight either from Delhi or Mumbai.
Nekibur Zaman, chairman of the Joint State Haj Committee that looks after Assam and four other NE states, said the Haj pilgrims from Assam and neighbouring states have been informed that they won't get direct chartered flight from Guwahati as the airlines company that won the bidding has gone bankrupt and stopped operations."The Central Haj Committee should make alternate arrangements from Guwahati. Now, the Haj pilgrims from Assam and the northeast are being asked to go as normal passengers in international flights from Delhi and Mumbai," Zaman told TOI here on Saturday.
He said boarding flights in Delhi or Mumbai will create hurdles, especially for the first-time travellers and the elderly. "The payments for the chartered flights have already been made and many pilgrims will now demand refund," Zaman added.
The Union ministry of civil aviation, in March, invited tenders from designated airlines of India and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for undertaking Haj charter flights from 22 stations in India, including Guwahati, to Jeddah/Madinah and back to respective stations, during the period between May 21 to August 2.
"Guwahati was an embarkation point for 6,000 passengers and it is unfortunate now that the same has not been offered now to the pilgrims," said leader of the opposition Debabrata Saikia.
He added that asking the pilgrims of the northeast to complete the international mandatory process for travel in Mumbai or New Delhi at the eleventh hour will cause hardships and financial problems to many. In the previous years, all international protocols like customs and immigration clearance for taking international flight for the Haj pilgrimage used to be completed at the LGBI airport, Guwahati.
"For the last few years, it was arranged smoothly by the previous governments. All of a sudden this year, stoppage of such special chartered flight has raised many eyebrows and has also started questioning the performance of the Joint State Haj Committee under the ministry of minority affairs, Assam," read a letter addressed to CM Himanta Biswa Sarma shot off by Saikia late on Friday.