They may be going on the journey of their life time but not without sour experiences at Haj House in Ranchi.
Haj pilgrims in transit at Haj House are left with abominable experiences of water dropping at them from leaking roofs and taps going dry frequently while answering nature’s call. The pathetic state of Vaju Khana also known as bathroom has brewed concerns of maintaining purity among pilgrims before leaving for one of the holiest pilgrimage for Muslims.
“The facilities are tad better than previous years. But when you go to the bathroom you will see the reality. Water is leaking from roofs. Also, taps are running dry too often. This is not good for those who are going on Haj,” said Md Kallimuddin, a resident of Giridih.The Haj Committee failed to get the roof repaired for leakages instead removed about a dozen water tanks from the roof of the transit house to control leakages. However, with large number of people pouring-in at the Haj House that included pilgrims and relatives the facilities got exposed.
“There has to be someone to organize people in the Haj House. But there is none. No volunteers to guide pilgrims and manage crowd,” said Sheikh Allauddin, who came all the way from Jamshedpur.The Haj Committee members however expressed their inability to cater to the needs of people coming in hordes along with the pilgrims who more often than not turn out to be a burden on the resources of the building. The committee also accepted that it could not provide mosquito nets to the pilgrims for some unknown reasons.
“We try that less number of people stay at Haj House but so many people come with them which creates a problem. Despite that we are trying our best to provide them good services with the available resources. We have stationed one man to ensure continuous supply of water and a tanker of municipal corporation also to meet the requirement of water,” said Secretary of Haj Committee, Nurul Hoda.
But the problem is as much inside the building for the pilgrims and their kith and kin as it is outside the building situated at Kadru. With large number of vehicles carrying pilgrims and their relatives arriving at Haj House, parking a vehicle has become big challenge for the committee to manage. Despite temporary parking lots the building seems surrounded by vehicles making movement of pilgrims difficult.