Tree branches chopped at Gandhi for flower shower
Idea to pay tribute to real heroes has been borrowed from NY
As an helicopter hovered above for a trial run briefly on Saturday, a ‘demolition squad’ was at work below, chopping branches of dozens of trees which provide shelter to those visiting the premises.
On the other hand, officials from the Indian Air Force (IAF) along with the local police were busy marking the exact spots where doctors, nurses, sanitation workers and security staff among others are expected to stand to ensure that the flower petals showered from the air do not miss them.
This, in a nutshell, was the scene at Gandhi Hospital 24 hours before the armed forces would be expressing gratitude to those involved in the fight against the Coronavirus. The Gandhi Hospital is at the centre of the war with several hundred patients being treated there.
When Chief of
Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat announced that the armed forces will pay tribute, none at Gandhi Hospital had expected that preparations for the flower shower would be a tedious exercise.
Having earmarked the spots, instructions were given to the junior staff to draw circles
using chalks so that each individual stands at a distance from the other. In all, they earmarked four spots in the premises at a safe distance from each other.
Thereafter, the officials went around the premises, made their calculations and noticed that the branches of several trees were
an obstacle for the flower shower. Here, the GHMC officials were called in.
A team of GHMC workers soon arrived with their machines to chop and prune the branches on trees on both sides of the road starting from the main gate of the hospital. By evening, they had chopped off several dozens of branches, perhaps killing some trees in the process.
“This chopping of branches for an event that would hardly last an hour, was the most unexpected this summer. It used to provide shade to so many people,” said some of the staffers, who even questioned the need to take up such a mammoth exercise in these difficult times.
“Since it is an important exercise, we have to make preparations on the ground,” one of the officials involved in the preparatory exercise, told Deccan Chronicle. The idea to pay tribute to the real heroes was borrowed from the US where fighter jets flew over New York and nearby areas to honour health workers.”
Over the last one month, the greenery at Gandhi Hospital was badly hit due to the frequent spraying of chemicals all around the premises. “The grass in the lawns and other plants died due to the chemical spray,” sources said.