By IINA,
Makkah : Demolition of buildings and properties in the north and north western parts of the Haram Mosque in order to facilitate massive expansion of the mosque is undergoing in full swing. “Nearly 40 percent of demolition works has so far been completed. The works are expected to be completed in the near future and the area will be facilitated for performing prayers for the hundreds of thousands of Umrah pilgrims who throng the holy city in the coming holy month of Ramadan,” said a source at the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.
The largest ever expansion of the Haram Mosque, ordered by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in January this year, will facilitate the accommodation of an additional 500,000 worshippers. The expansion will create more prayer space on the northern and northwestern parts of the mosque. The project would include the construction of pedestrian tunnels and service stations.
The massive Haram expansion project also included expansion of Masa’a between Safa and Marwa hills. First phase of the project has been completed before the last Haj and the second phase in now under implementation. Also, construction works of the fourth and last phase of the Jamrat Bridge in Mina are also progressing well. The total cost of the Jamrat project amounts to more than SR4.2 billion. The project is expected to help millions of pilgrims perform their Haj rituals in ease and comfort.
The royal decree for the expansion of the Haram Mosque covers expropriation of real estate on the northern and northwestern sides of the mosque, covering an area of 300,000 square meters. As many as 1,000 properties in the area called Shamiya and Shubaika are being demolished as part of the expansion project and the government has allocated some SR6 billion as compensation. The new project will cover the area beginning at Masjid Al-Haram Street and Gazza on the east to Jabal Al-Kaaba Street and Shubaika Graveyard on the west.
It will also run through Abu Sufyan Street, Raquba, Abdullah ibn Zubair Street, Shamiya, Jabal Hindi, Khaled ibn Walid Street and Shubaika reaching Jabal Kaaba Street, Al-Bar said.
The project will change the face of Makkah with many families, who have been living in the area for several years, forced to find accommodation in other places. Shamiya and Shubaika, next to the massive prayer complex, are situated in one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the world. According to reports, the Shamiya neighborhood is more than 500 years old. Many well-known families have lived in areas close to the holy mosque for years. They include Hashim, Tayeb, Kurdi, Jifry, Yamani, Dahlan, Dahlawi, Zahid, Mufti, Fatani, Ghazawi, Turki, Gazzaz, Hariri, Kattan, Basarawi, Iraqi, Abu Mansour, Ojaimi, Rushaidi, Qusti, Shatta and Abu Al-Naja.
The first major expansion of the mosque in modern times was ordered in 1925 by King Abdul Aziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. King Fahd initiated the mosque’s largest expansion in 1989, increasing its prayer area from 152,000 to 356,000 square meters. The total area of courtyards around the mosque is estimated at more than 40,000 square meters, which can accommodate at least 100,000 worshippers.