Visakhapatnam :
Nearly one lakh people congregated at the RK Beach to watch the thrilling operational displays put up by the men in uniform who guard the seas on Navy Day on Thursday evening.
Even though public and private vehicles were barred from entering the Beach Road from noon amidst stringent security, it didn’t deter the hoards of people who made their way to the venue, thousands of whom came walking from distant places. Every inch of the beach and road, balconies and rooftops of all the apartments and buildings in the vicinity were choc-a-bloc with people who quickly took vantage points so as not to miss any action.
Though every year the governor of some state is invited as the chief guest, for the first time this year, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu was given the honours. Satish Soni, Vice Admiral of Eastern Naval Command, was present alongside.
This year, there were a couple of new demos such as the helobatics by Sarang Helicopters of the Indian Air Force and continuity drill with fire by the armed naval personnel.
Grace Abraham, a student of Timphany School, was bowled over by the helobatics display. “The manoeuvres of the helicopters were just awesome, especially the cross over and dolphin’s leap. I salute the pilots and people behind the show as so much of hard work and month-long practice have gone into making the challenging helobatics a huge success,” she said.
It was not only the fleet manoeuvers, demo and flypast by various helicopters and aircrafts that kept the onlookers’ gaze fixed firmly to the skies for more than an hour but also the daredevil performance by the Special Forces – the Marine Commandos (Marcos) – that kept them on tenterhooks.
Ashirwad Mohanty, a Class X student of Little Angel’s School, loved all the performances by the Marcos, especially the amphibious and beach assault involving specially designed crafts, a tank and missile boats. “Every demo was commendable. From skydiving to submarine and warships demonstration, from the Navy Band’s mesmerising music to the fire and weapon drills… But I was thrilled to watch the operations by the marine commandos the most, including the amphibious assault and their sabotage operations on a simulated oil rig,” said Ashirwad, who aspires to become an aeronautical engineer.
For Gita Singh, wife of Commander Bhupinder Singh, it was her first time at Navy Day ops demo. “All the demos were interesting and exhibited the skills of our men in uniform but the colourful skydiving by the marine commandos impressed me the most,” she stated.
Finally, at the end of the show, while watching the brilliant fireworks and illumined silhouettes of warships in the sea, Mriganka Majumdar, a communication consultant, said, “I feel the Indian coast and the seas are in the safest of hands. It’s a mind-blowing performance where for the first time I got to see the Naval operations on land, water and air. I’m lucky to be in Vizag at this time of the year. The skydiving as well as the slithering operations of the Marcos from the helicopter, the rescue demo involving the boats and helicopters were just spellbinding.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatanam / TNN / December 05th, 2014