In a city that receives millions of visitors annually and faces growing challenges in crowd management and service provision, the Imam Hussein Holy Shrine continues to advance the Grand Expansion Project as one of the largest religious urban developments in Iraq. The project lays new foundations for organizing million-visitor pilgrimages and upgrading the infrastructure surrounding the shrine of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), within a comprehensive vision that responds to the rapid annual increase in the number of pilgrims traveling to Karbala.
The head of the Expansion Projects Department at the Imam Hussein Holy Shrine, Engineer Hussein Ridha Mahdi, said in an interview with the official website that “the Grand Expansion Project is among the largest religious urban projects in Iraq, given its unprecedented service, organizational, and architectural dimensions, which aim to enhance the quality of services provided to visitors of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him).”
He explained that “the project is being implemented by the Expansion Projects Department affiliated with the General Secretariat of the Imam Hussein Holy Shrine, under the direct guidance of the representative of the Supreme Religious Authority, Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbalai, with follow-up by the Secretary-General, Mr. Hassan Rashid Jawad Al-Abayji, and under the supervision of specialized engineering and technical staff within the department.”
He noted that “the project consists of four main courtyards surrounding the Husayni shrine, with a total area estimated at approximately 750,000 square meters, distributed as 500,000 square meters for worship spaces and 250,000 square meters for service areas. These include integrated facilities for visitors, the organization of entry and exit movement, as well as health, security, and logistical services.”
He added that “the project’s capacity, upon completion, will exceed one million visitors at a single time within the expansion boundaries, representing a qualitative shift in crowd management during million-visitor pilgrimages, amid the continuous increase in the number of visitors arriving in the city of Karbala each year.”
He pointed out that “the project is the first of its kind among holy shrine projects in Iraq in terms of scale, functional integration, and urban planning linked to pilgrimage,” stressing that “its implementation comes in response to the growing need for infrastructure that matches Karbala’s religious and humanitarian status and aligns with modern safety and organizational requirements.”
He continued by saying that “the Grand Expansion Project is not merely an urban expansion, but rather a long-term strategic vision to organize the million-visitor pilgrimage, provide the best possible services to visitors, and ensure smooth movement and the safety of the millions who head to Karbala annually.”
Accordingly, the Grand Expansion Project represents a pivotal strategic step in the development of services provided to visitors of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), combining modern urban planning with the religious and humanitarian dimensions of the pilgrimage. It establishes a new, more organized, secure, and fluid phase that reflects Karbala’s spiritual standing and meets the needs of the millions who visit it year after year.
اترك تعليق