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Forces to honour Covid-19 front-line workers today
The plan, announced by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday, involves several activities, such as illuminating warships and band performances outside coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hospitals across the country.
Fighter jets will perform a fly-past over Rajpath and fly over the National Capital Region (NCR), and helicopters will shower petals over several hospitals in Delhi on Sunday morning as part of an elaborate military plan to show gratitude to the country’s Covid-19 warriors, the Indian Air Force said on Saturday.
The plan, announced by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday, involves several activities, such as illuminating warships and band performances outside coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hospitals across the country.
The fighter jets featuring in the fly-past, or what the IAF is calling an “aerial salute,” over Delhi-NCR, will be the Sukhoi-30s, MiG-29s and Jaguars. The fly-past is planned between 10am and 10.30am. The aircraft will be flying at a height of 500 to 1,000 metre and will be visible to the residents of Delhi from their rooftops, the spokesperson said.
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The fly-past by the fighter jets will be followed by the C-130J special operations aircraft flying over Delhi-NCR in formation.
The IAF spokesperson said helicopters will shower petals over the National Police Memorial and Delhi hospitals involved in providing relief to Covid-19 patients.
These include Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, GTB Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital and the Army Hospital (Research and Referral).
Wreaths will be laid at the police memorial on behalf of the three service chiefs.
Fighter jets and transport planes will carry out fly-pasts across the length and breadth of the country, from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kutch, as reported by Hindustan Times on Sunday.
The Indian Navy will illuminate its warships at anchorage from 7.30pm to midnight at Mumbai, Porbandar, Karwar, Vizag, Chennai, Kochi and Port Blair, a navy spokesperson said. He added that naval helicopters will shower petals over Covid-19 hospitals in Mumbai and Goa.
Also, 46 Indian Coast Guard ships will be lit up at 25 locations along the country’s eastern and western seaboards, the defence ministry said. Ten coast guard helicopters will shower flower petals over Covid-19 hospitals in Daman, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai and Port Blair.
The tributes being offered to Covid-19 warriors will see army bands perform outside several hospitals and locations across the country, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the Army’s RR Hospital and the Base Hospital in Delhi Cantt, an army spokesperson said. Dal Lake in Srinagar is among the locations where army bands will perform to honour Covid-19 warriors.
“The armed forces have always stood as a wall against all threats to the country and every time our citizens have come out in large numbers and showered their blessings and appreciation towards us. This time, it is our turn to applaud the sacrifice of our corona warriors,” the army spokesperson said.
The military’s plan to honour front-line workers was finalised at a meeting chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday. The meeting was attended by the national security adviser, the CDS and the three service chiefs.
