The armed forces have made elaborate arrangements for Sunday to thank the lakhs of doctors, paramedics, sanitation staff and other front-line workers engaged in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

The forces will conduct aerial fly-pasts, light up ships at sea and shower flower petals on several hospitals across the country on Sunday.

General Bipin Rawat, the chief of defence staff, on Friday announced that the three services will carry out a series of activities to thank the “corona warriors”.

The activities will start with the laying of wreaths at the police memorial in Delhi and in several other cities on Sunday morning to honour the police personnel deployed in enforcement of the nationwide lockdown, officials said.

It will be followed by fly-pasts by fighter and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, covering a sizeable number of cities and towns across the country between 10am and 11am, officials said.

“These aircraft will cover major towns starting from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kutch. Helicopters from the IAF and Indian Navy will fly over hospitals treating coronavirus patients and shower petals as a tribute to the corona warriors,” army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said.

He said some of the aircraft will be flown as low as 500m so that people can witness the fly-pasts from the safety of their homes.

Military bands will play “patriotic tunes” outside various civil hospitals treating coronavirus patients to express gratitude to doctors, nurses and paramedics, he said.

Separately, Indian Navy helicopters will shower petals on hospitals treating coronavirus patients in Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Visakhapatnam between 10am and 10.30am.

Navy officials said the western naval command will illuminate five naval ships from 7.30pm to 11.59pm off Gateway of India in Mumbai.

They would display banners like “India Salutes Corona Warriors” and will sound the siren of the ships and fire flares at 7.30pm at anchorage. Additionally, the naval air stations at Goa would organise a human chain on the runway to honour the “corona warriors”.

The eastern naval command will illuminate two ships at anchorage from 7.30pm to midnight on the Visakhapatnam coast.

Anand said the Indian Coast Guard ships will be seen at 24 places, including in Porbandar, Okha, Ratnagiri, Dahanu, Murud, Goa, New Mangalaore, Kavarati, Karaikal, Chennai, Krishnapatnam, Nizamapatanam, Puducherry, Kakinada, Paradip, Sagar Island, Port Blair, Diglipur, Mayabundur, Hut Bay and Campbel Bay.

“The nation stood together and showed resilience in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. On behalf of armed forces, we want to thank all the corona warriors -- doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, police, home guards, delivery boys and media,” General Rawat had said on Friday.