NEW DELHI, May 3 - Fighter jets and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Sunday carried out flypasts over major cities and towns while military choppers showered petals on leading hospitals across the country as part of a mega exercise to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors, paramedics and other front-line workers battling the coronavirus pandemic.
A fleet of military jets comprising Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar flew over Rajpath, Delhi�s centrepiece boulevard, and then, orbited over the city and the national capital region for around 30 minutes from 11 am.
Premier transport aircraft C-130 also carried out a separate fly-past over the Delhi and the NCR region. The aircraft flew at an approximate height of 500 metres to 1000 metres keeping aerospace safety in mind, a senior official in the Indian Air Force said.
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.
A military chopper also showered petals on the memorial.
Besides Delhi, the Indian Air Force conducted fly-pasts in a number of cities including Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Patna, Lucknow, Srinagar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Thiruvananthapuram, they said.
A large number of helicopters belonging to the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy dropped flower petals over leading hospitals treating coronavirus patients across the country including in Delhi, Shillong, Guwahati and Mumbai.
Army�s military bands also performed outside leading hospitals. � PTI
Our Staff Reporter adds: The Armed Forces today paid their respect and showed solidarity to all the corona warriors throughout the country by organising various events at different locations. The armed forces are indebted to the corona warriors who are at the forefront of the healthcare system, they said.
In Guwahati, the solidarity was shown in the form of three Sukhoi-30 flying over the State Legislative Assembly. Flower petals were dropped from an Air Force Mi-17 helicopter on the city COVID hospitals (Guwahati Medical College & Hospital and Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital) while at the same time the Air Force band played mesmerizing tunes for all the corona warriors.
All the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and other frontline workers witness the display of the armed forces and expressed their gratitude.
In other parts of the State, the army also paid rich tributes to the police personnel who are working tirelessly to enforce successful lockdown across the State by laying wreaths for the martyrs and also honouring the corona warriors.
