Stalin urges Modi to allow Hajj departure from Chennai airport

Referring to the recent notification of the Central Haj Committee, which excluded Chennai International Airport from its list of departing airport destinations for the pilgrimage, Stalin asked the PM to advise officials of the departments concerned to reconsider the decision of making Kochi airport, 700 km away from Chennai, as the boarding point for Haj pilgrims from Tamil Nadu. The CM also urged Modi to exhort officials to allow departure for the pilgrimage from the Chennai international airport.

Pointing out that about 4,500 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands had left for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from Chennai Airport in 2019, the Chief Minister said that even people from Karnataka and Kerala had started their pilgrimage via Chennai airport and therefore making Kochi as the boarding point for TN pilgrims would put them through a lot of hardships.