Acknowledging the role of the “corona warriors” in fighting the pandemic in the country, the Armed forces on Sunday paid tributes to them by conducting flypasts by fighter jets in many parts of the country, including the national Capital, playing martial tunes outside hospitals treating coronavirus patients, and showering on them flower petals by choppers. 

The warships were lit up from evening onwards and enthralled people in the coastal region at more than 25 places.

The thanksgiving to the “frontline corona fighters”, including doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, police and the media, commenced in the morning with wreath placed on  behalf of the three Services at the National Police Memorial here as a mark of respect. 

The IAF helicopters showered petals from air at the memorial.

The nationwide programme of saluting the “corona warriors” was unveiled by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday. In fact, some of the activities began on Saturday itself with the three services conducting flypasts, performances by military bands and the warships on the shores gaily lit up.  The finale was on Sunday.

After the wreath-laying ceremony at the Police Memorial, the countrywide activities commenced with a flypast of fighter jet formation including SU-30s, Jaguars and MIG-29s above the Rajpath.

The fighter flying was undertaken at a height of 500 metres to enable the people of the capital and suburbs to see the skillful display.  

The planes and helicopters then showered petals on India Gate and Red Fort besides performing similar feat at all the hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. These hospitals included All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), BR Ambedkar Hospital, Max Saket, Gangaram Hospital, Deen Dayal Hospital and some others.

 A similar exercise was conducted over Srinagar’s Dal Lake, Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake and Lucknow. In Mumbai, fighter jets conducted a flypast over the Marine Drive and dropped petals over the King Edward Memorial Hospital and Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, among others.

In all, 35 aircraft were utilised including ten fighter jets, four transport aircraft and 20 helicopters.

The IAF helicopters dropped flower petals in 20 cities and 58 hospitals across India.

Appreciating the unique efforts of the Armed forces, Defence Ministry quoted Defence Minister Rajnath Singh as saying, “The Armed Forces today organised several activities to express gratitude to the corona warriors who are battling against the pandemic. These frontline warriors are doing commendable work in strengthening the morale of all those involved in India’s fight against Covid-19.”

The Indian Navy personnel onboard the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya expressed their appreciation by forming a human chain saying Indian Navy salutes corona warriors.

“Personnel onboard Indian Navy Ships mission deployed From the West to East in Indian Ocean Region, expressed their appreciation and salute the Corona warriors including doctors, nurses, other health workers, sanitation staff and police personnel who have been relentlessly fighting against the COVID pandemic,” the Navy said in a statement.

In all, 25 Indian Naval warships across nine port cities including in Andaman and Nicobar Islands carried out illumination from 7:30 pm till mid-night. In addition, four mission deployed ships also took part to express their gratitude while 15 helicopters and aircraft took part in showering flower petals and flypast in coastal cities.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships were illuminated at 25 locations covering the entire coastline of the country, including far flung island territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands. A total of 46 Coast Guard ships and 10 helicopters took part in the initiative including dropping petals on hospitals in Chennai and Goa.

Several hospitals thanked the Armed forces for their gesture of showering petals. In a letter to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, the Resident Doctors Association of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences appreciated the “morale boosting” gesture by the defence services in solidarity with them to fight the pandemic.

In the evening, Navy ships docked at major ports, including Mumbai and Chennai, were lit up. Five warships were illuminated in Mumbai off the Gateway of India in Mumbai displaying banners like “India Salutes Corona Warriors” and sounded the siren and fire flares in the evening. 

The Eastern Naval Command illuminated two ships at anchorage from 7.30 pm to midnight at Visakhapatnam coast.