Abdulaziz Ghazzawi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

MAKKAH — The National Water Company (NWC) has approved its operational plan for water and environmental services in Makkah over the summer that aims to provide adequate supplies of water to Umrah performers and visitors to the Grand Mosque.



The NWC said it expects an influx of visitors from within the Kingdom and abroad in the holy city. It said the total quantity of water that flows to Makkah daily is 543,000 cubic meters.



Makkah NWC Director Abdullah Al-Hasanain said there are 24 cisterns in Makkah.



“The company fills up all the cisterns in Makkah that collectively can store up to 1.4 million cubic meters of water," he said.



“A total of 540,000 cubic meters of the water pumped every day is pumped through Al-Shuaibah plant and 3,000 cubic meters is pumped through Malakan Valley, which connects to the restrooms of the Grand Mosque.”



He added the company has 30 employees in the customer service section and has refurbished the entrance of the department to welcome customers.



“We are expecting over 3 million pilgrims coming to Makkah this Ramadan and the company has completed a plan to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of the water network and water resources in the city,” said Al-Hasanain.



He added the company would open eight operation and maintenance centers to serve people in Makkah.



“The centers will have 68 operation teams and 38 maintenance teams. There will also be another 30 backup teams.



“The company has also provided 215 vehicles available for the teams and other equipment and technology such as walkie-talkies to ensure fast and accurate communication.”



Apart from this, he said, the number of water tanker trucks at the filling stations has been increased.



Meanwhile, Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar said the Makkah Traffic Department and Makkah Transport Directorate have assigned five checkpoints in Makkah to search the vehicles of pilgrims entering the city.



He said: “The checkpoints are at Al-Sail Road, Jeddah Road, Al-Madinah Road, Al-Karr Road and Al-Laith Road.



“The checkpoint booths will be shaded with umbrellas to protect the officers from the sun.



“There are public transportation services and taxis available for the pilgrims to take them to the Grand Mosque.



“There are also electronic signs to direct the pilgrims to where they can park their vehicles.”



He also said the municipality is focusing on the cleanliness of the city as well.



“There are more than 11,000 workers with more than 772,000 pieces of cleaning equipment for Ramadan.



“They will be working around the clock. We are expecting the city to be extremely crowded but we are trying our best to make the visitors and pilgrims’ stay in Makkah as smooth and comfortable as possible.”