MAKKAH: Ramadan brings millions of pilgrims and worshippers to the Grand Mosque, making crowd management one of the most complex operational challenges at the holy site.
Authorities say new systems are being used this year to monitor and manage the movement of visitors across the mosque and its surrounding plazas, relying on real-time data and coordinated planning.
The General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque told Arab News that operations during peak periods are coordinated through a central engineering command and control center.
Density indicators and crowd-flow speeds from across the mosque complex feed into the system in real time, allowing supervisors to adjust entry and exit routes and respond to congestion points as they emerge.
Cleaning and emergency teams are also deployed based on anticipated crowd patterns rather than waiting for calls. An integrated system guides these decisions by assessing three factors: current crowd density, the operational sensitivity of a location, and risk levels. Interactive digital maps launched by the authority provide field supervisors with real-time visual data to support these decisions.
