In an effort to salute the brave frontline workers who are fighting the Chinese pandemic coronavirus by putting themselves at risk, the Indian Armed Forces has decided to salute the brave corona warriors through various military gestures on Sunday.
Reportedly, the Indian Air Force has decided to conduct a flypast in various cities and also shower petals on coronavirus hospitals, while the Indian Navy will light up its warships to express their gratitude towards coronavirus warriors who are battling the pandemic.
On Friday, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, with all three service heads, had announced the “gesture of special gratitude” will consist of the Air Force conducting flypasts across the length and breadth of the country.
Indian Air Force to carry out flypast
The Indian Air Force aircraft will cover major towns starting from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kutch. The helicopters from the IAF and Indian Navy will fly over hospitals treating coronavirus patients and shower petals as a tribute to the coronavirus warriors.
#WATCH IAF chopper showers flower petals on the Police War Memorial in order to express to pay tribute to police officials for their contribution in the fight against COVID19 pandemic#Delhi pic.twitter.com/XmKDBOAtfJ
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2020
In the national capital, the aerial salute to the corona warriors’ from the fighter and transport aircraft was scheduled to fly between 10 am-11 am. However, due to heavy rain, the flypast has been delayed by one hour.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Air Force flights carried out a fly past over Srinagar’s Dal Lake to pay tribute to medical professionals and all other frontline workers.
#WATCH Indian Air Force’s flypast over Srinagar’s Dal Lake to pay tribute to medical professionals and all other frontline workers. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/enk7mwznJc
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2020
The flypast event is combined with the training activity of the IAF and opportunity flight for transport aircraft and helicopters who are involved in moving supplies related to coronavirus task.
#WATCH Two IAF C-130J Super Hercules special operations transport aircraft fly over Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh. The aircraft took off from Srinagar,J&K and will fly all the way to Trivandrum in Kerala to show gratitude towards COVID-19 warriors. pic.twitter.com/iFGSrbFGq0
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2020
Two IAF C-130J Super Hercules special operations transport aircraft took off from Srinagar earlier today and flew over Chandigarh few minutes back.
Fighter aircraft formations, comprising of the Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar will be flying over Rajpath, and will orbit over Delhi and will be visible to the residents of Delhi from their rooftops. In addition, C-130 transport aircraft will follow a similar profile as fighters covering the entire Delhi and NCR region.
The Indian Air Force helicopters are also scheduled to drop flower petals over the Police War Memorial at 9 am, followed by Delhi hospitals involved in providing relief to patients of coronavirus between 10-10.30 am.
Similarly, the IAF is scheduled to shower flower petals over two hospitals in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar between 9-10 am. Flower petals will also be dropped in Itanagar, Guwahati, Shillong and Kolkata, around 10.30 am. The Air Force band will be playing in Guwahati as well for paying tribute to the corona warriors.
In Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, the flower-petal showering will take place at KGMU and SGPGI Trauma Center between 10.15-10.30 am. Fighter aircraft will flypast over Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow around 12.20 pm. In Bengaluru, the Indian Airforce will shower petals on Victoria Hospital and Command Hospital at 10:45 am.
The aerial salute from the armed forces will be flown as low as 500 meters so that citizens of the country will be able to witness the event from their home. The military bands will visit various civil hospitals treating coronavirus patients across the country to express their gratitude by playing patriotic tunes.
Indian Navy to salute brave warriors
On Sunday evening, the Indian Navy will light up its warships and flare fires in solidarity with the corona warriors on the coasts of Mumbai, Porbandar, Karwar, Vizag, Chennai, Kochi and Port Blair.
Meanwhile, the Indian Naval Aviation assets will be showering petals by helicopters on hospitals treating coronavirus patients in Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Vizag between 10 am-10.30 am.
Navy Choppers showered flower petals in Panaji, Goa.#WATCH: Navy chopper showers flower petals on Goa Medical College in Panaji to express gratitude towards medical professionals fighting #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/fhIz1pQlpM
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2020
The Indian Coast Guard ships will also be seen at 24 places including Porbandar, Okha, Ratnagiri, Dahanu, Murud, Goa, New Mangalore, Kavaratti, Karaikal, Chennai, Krishnapatnam, Nizamapatanam, Puducherry, Kakinada, Paradip, Gopalpur/Puri, Sagar Island, Port Blair, Diglipur, Mayabundur, Hut bay and Campbel Bay.
The Eastern Naval Command will illuminate two ships at anchorage from 7:30 pm to midnight at Visakhapatnam coast. The Naval Air Stations at Goa would display human chain messages on the runway to honour the corona warriors.
#WATCH: Eastern Naval Command fired flares in the air from two Indian Navy ships today as part of rehearsals at Ramakrishna Beach in Visakhapatnam, ahead of its ceremony tomorrow that is being organised to show solidarity with COVID-19 warriors. pic.twitter.com/1bqfkeMW7N
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020
This is the third major show of gratitude to frontline corona workers, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request to Indians to clap for the coronavirus warriors from their balconies. Later, people expressed their salutes to these warriors by switching off their lights and lighting candles and diyas on the PM’s request.
Lockdown relaxations
Today also marks the conclusion of the second phase of lockdown which was announced by PM Modi two weeks back. Significant relaxations are given in areas where coronavirus infection spread is less. The phased lockdown has been extended by two more weeks till May 17.
