MALAPPURAM: The Haj Committee of India has extended support to the state Haj panel’s demand for the restoration of the embarkation point at Calicut International Airport at Karipur. In reply to the head of the state Haj Committee, its chairman said he would approach the Union government for it. However, the state Haj committee has not got any reply from the Union ministers who deals with the civil aviation and Haj affairs, said Thodiyoor Muhammed Kunhi Moulavi, the state Haj panel chief.
He had written to both ministers last month seeking clarity in the rejection of Karipur as an embarkation point in the state. “We still hope that the Centre would agree with our demand as the airport runway is renovated and now has all the technical and infrastructural capacities to operate the aircraft which were used earlier for the Haj services,” he said. Before finalising this year’s embarkation point, the panel would also meet the airport authorities and airline companies by the end of April.
The first Haj flight from Kerala is on August 8. The Haj camp would also start in August before beginning services. At present, Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery is the only embarkation point in the state while more than 85 percent of the total pilgrims are from Malabar districts. The embarkation point was temporarily shifted to Nedumbassery last year in the wake of renovation works here.
