PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
Police are now mulling plans for the traffic police personnel who do their duties on the streets and chows braving the sweltering heat. “We are thinking of how to give such personnel relief. We must keep them adequately hydrated,” the inspector general of police (IG) Garhwal, Rajeev Swaroop said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a heatwave warning for the district, following which the district magistrate, Savin Bansal declared a one-day holiday in educational institutions on April 27-the first such closure in Dehradun due to heatwave. Traffic police staff who spend many hours on the streets and the chowks amid this searing heat are supposed to be quite vulnerable to heatwave conditions and dehydration. On Monday, the mercury in the city hovered between 38 and 39 Degrees Celsius.
In view of the rising temperatures, steps are also being taken in different states to protect traffic police personnel from extreme heat and dehydration. In cities like Ahmedabad, traffic police are being provided with battery-operated cooling jackets to help reduce body temperature.
In Hyderabad, mist systems have been installed at busy intersections to spray fine water droplets and provide relief from heat. In Noida, umbrellas have been made compulsory for traffic police, along with arrangements for cold water, glucose drinks, buttermilk and lassi to prevent dehydration.
IG Garhwal Swaroop also said that a plan is being prepared to reshuffle duty timings of traffic police and provide water and juice facilities so that personnel on duty do not suffer from dehydration during the heatwave condition.
