In order to avoid inconvenience for Haj pilgrims from the state, Tamil Nadu MK Stalin on Thursday requested Prime Minister Modi to re-include Chennai as an embarkation point for Haj pilgrims. Chennai was earlier removed from the list of embarking cities by the Haj committee.
There are about 4500 Haj pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar islands. They used Chennai as the embarkation point in 2019. Furthermore, even pilgrims from Kerala and Karnataka used Chennai, Stalin said.
Presently, the embarkation point for pilgrims from Tamil Nadu is in Kochi, about 700 km from TN's capital. Stalin added that he had received several petitions from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar islands requesting that Chennai be re-included into the list of Haj embarking cities. He further requested the concerned officials to include Chennai again to avoid trouble for pilgrims.