New Delhi: The Indian Air Force and Indian Navy demonstrated a symbolic show of thanks to front-line workers battling the Covid-19 pandemic, as helicopters from the IAF and the Indian Navy fly over hospitals treating coronavirus patients showering flower petals as a tribute.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Friday announced that the three services will carry out a series of activities to thank the “corona warriors”.
The thanks-giving activities started with laying of wreaths at the national police memorial in Delhi to honour the police personnel deployed in the enforcement of the nationwide lockdown, officials said.
Besides Delhi, the Indian Air Force is carrying out fly-pasts in several other cities including Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Patna and Lucknow, Srinagar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram, they said.
Military bands are also playing “patriotic tunes” outside various civil hospitals treating coronavirus patients across the country.
The Eastern Naval Command and the Western Naval Command are illuminating a number of ships at anchorage from 7.30 pm to midnight.
New Delhi
A fleet of military jets on Sunday carried out a spectacular fly-past over the national capital as part of a nationwide exercise to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors, paramedics, sanitation staff and other front-line workers engaged in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
The military jets, including Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar, flew over Rajpath, Delhi’s centrepiece boulevard, and then orbited over the city for around 30 minutes from 11 am.
Premier transport aircraft C-130 also carried out a separate fly-past covering the Delhi and the NCR region. The aircraft flew at an approximate height of 500 metres to 1000 metres keeping aerospace safety in mind.
Kerala
At around 10 am, the Sarang helicopter of the IAF flew past the Government Medical College Hospital and the General Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the nation-wide initiative.
It hovered over a statue of ‘motherand child’ at the medical college hospital and moved towards the main entrance showering petals.
A Defence release said the “Indian Coast Guard will honour the front-line workers by illuminating the Coast Guard Ships (Dress Overall) at Shangumugom Area on May 2 and 3 from 6.15 p.m to 8.30 p.m.”
Bhopal
An Indian Air Force helicopter showered flower petals at two hospitals in Bhopal on Sunday.
The health staff members of the two hospitals, who were wearing the personal protecting equipment (PPE), cheered and clapped while looking at the aircraft in the sky.
The MI17 helicopter of the IAF dropped petals at the government-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the private Chirayu Hospital in the Madhya Pradesh capital between 10 am and 10.30 am, an official said.
Wing Commander Abhishek Yadav, who was the co- ordinating officer for the exercise, said, “Usually people thank the armed forces, but this time we paid our gratitude to people at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19.”
He said the petal showering activity was accomplished under the guidance of Group Captain Shreepath Tokekar.
“Four quintals of sanitised flowers were dropped in the exercise,” he added.
On the occasion, an Army band played musical tunes on the Chirayu Hospital campus.
Police and revenue officials in Bhopal also clapped to thank the frontline health workers.
Tamil Nadu
Honouring the corona warriors, Defence forces on Sunday showered flower petals on four government hospitals treating the Covid-19 patients in Chennai.
An IAF chopper strew flower petals on the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and the Tamil Nadu Government Multi-Super Speciality Hospital at Omandurar Estate in the heart of the city.
Later, an Indian Coast Guard helicopter carried out a similar activity honouring personnel at the Government Stanley Medical College and Kilpauk Medical College in the city.
Karnataka
An Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter showered flower petals on doctors, nurses and staff at the Victoria Hospital, a designated Covid-19 hospital in Karnataka.
The front-line workers too acknowledged the gesture by clapping and several of them clicking photos.
“We are doing our duty, we know the danger of the disease, but we come here and do as its our duty. Such gesture, that too from the Armed forces is great, it will help us keep going,” a hospital staff said.
The Airforce band also performed at the Victoria Hospital on the occasion.
A similar activity was undertaken at the Command Hospital here as a mark of appreciation of those from the facility involved in testing of samples for Covid-19, Defence officials said.
They said the INS Vikramaditya ship, which is at Anchorage off Karwar coast, will be illuminated at 7.30 PM.
There will be a flypast by transport aircraftat C 130 J Hercules at 3.46 over Vidhana Soudha, the seat of state legislature and secretariat here, they added.
Meanwhile, the Defence Public Relations Office here tweeted that bands from Madras Engineer Group (MEG), Parachute Regiment Training Centre (PRTC), Army Service Corps bands performed on Saturday thanking the corona warriors.
Uttar Pradesh
An IAF helicopter on Sunday showered rose petals on doctors, nurses and other para-medical staff of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) and the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute for Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in Lucknow.
At around 10.15 am, two rounds of floral showering was conducted by a helicopter of the Indian Air Force over the area in front of the administrative building of KGMU.
As the flowers were showered, doctors, nurses and other para-medical staff of KGMU clapped and chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ to express their happiness. Some of the doctors and nurses were overwhelmed by the gesture and became teary-eyed.
Head of Department of Transfusion Medicine at KGMU, Tulika Chandra said, “It was an emotional and heart touching scene. There were tears in our eyes The feeling of tiredness, which grips us after spending 18 hours on duty disappeared with this honour and our motivational level increased.
Vice-Chancellor of KGMU M L B Bhatt, while expressing happiness said, “The honour, which has been bestowed upon corona warriors today has made the doctors, nurses and para-medical staff very happy.”
Meanwhile, director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute for Medical Sciences (SGPGI) R K Dhiman said, “This is a proud moment for all corona warriors. We feel that as if we are the jawans of the Indian Army who will take on the enemy in the battle field. He said the gesture has doubled the enthusiasm among the corona warriors at the SGPGI.
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