Prayagraj may soon have Haj House, international flights for pilgrims
Prayagraj may soon accommodate Haj pilgrims at a Haj House who will catch flights to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage from Bamrauli Civil Airport Terminal.
Haj pilgrims from Prayagraj and adjoining districts have to travel to Lucknow or Varanasi to catch a flight, which is both time-consuming and costly too.
Officiating Airport Director of Civil Air Terminal PK Singh on Sunday handed over a letter to minister of minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi with a proposal to start Haj flights from Prayagraj.
In the letter, Singh informed the minister that the new terminal building at Prayagraj Airport has became operational and is capable of operating international flights. However, he said that in the absence of a Haj House, flights to Saudi Arabia were not possible from the airport as there was no place to accommodate passengers. While requesting the minister to take necessary action in this direction, the airport director said that it will prove to be helpful for not only Haj pilgrims from Prayagraj but also from neighbouring districts of Kaushambi, Banda, Rewa, Karwi, Chitrakut, Pratapgarh and Mirzapur etc.
Prayagraj Mayor and wife of cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ Abhilasha Gupta said the union minister Naqvi gave a positive response to the proposal. Cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi is also making efforts to get Haj flights started and for the construction of a Haj House in Prayagraj. Once the proposal is accepted and all formalities are over, Haj flights will be operational and work to construct the Haj house will also begin, the mayor added.
Many Muslim organisations and individuals which include chief standing counsel Qamrul Hasan Siddiqui, AIMIM district president Afsar Mehmud, Samajwadi Party leader Mushtaq Qazmi along with corporators of many localities, had written a letter to the Prayagraj Airport Director requesting him to start Haj flights from the Civil Airport Terminal and for the construction of a Hajj House. They said the step would prove to be of great help for the large number of Haj pilgrims who annually go to Haj from Prayagraj and adjoining districts.
Photo Caption: Minister of minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi and MLA Harshvardhan Bajpai and officials at Prayagraj Civil Airport Terminal on Sunday