The sun is directly over his head and traffic constable, Shyam Patel, is finding it difficult to manage the buses, cars and motorcycles spilling onto the junction outside Kalupur Railway Station.
Patel is doing his best to handle the traffic, and is quite successful at that, but the heat is visibly taking a toll on him. He puts a newspaper into his helmet to insulate against the singe, while a cotton cloth protects his face. “I have chosen to be in the police force. If I’m told to stand here, I will have to do my duty,” said Patel. “If I find a shade, I stand there but it’s possible to manage traffic then. You have to stand in the middle of the road to control the traffic flow.” Patel will be here till 3.30pm.
At a time when mercury levels are soaring quite exponentially, Patel and 819 others like him are manning city roads, but it’s a daily struggle for them to survive the heat. The fact that three of their colleagues have succumbed to the weather extremities aren’t helping matter either.
The traffic department has geared up to provide amenities to its personnel, but it seems that the attempts lack the seriousness. DCP (traffic) DH Parmar said that the department has taken serious note of the increasing heat. “We have ensured that cops over fifty years of age are not posted at junctions witnessing heavy traffic,” said Parmar. The department is trying to increase number of home guards to give some relief to the cops.
The home guards and jawans of the traffic brigade do assist the cops, but most of the time cops don’t get a chance for a quick break due to the continuous traffic flow. Situations are worse at about 29 traffic junctions of the city. “Even with the sun right above our heads, we have to stand on the middle of the road so that people can see us and thus, traffic can be controlled,” said a cop at one such junction, on condition of anonymity.
Moreover, long hours of work – 7.30am to 3.30pm – simply add to the misery. The traffic cops say that the timings were changed recently. “Timings earlier were from 8am to 2.30pm,” said an officer, refusing to be named. The second shift starts at 3.30pm and ends at 11pm.
Constables who died on duty
Dalpatsinh Baldevsinh (50) died on April 26, 2013 near Rajendra Park Society, Odhav.
Sukhdevsinh Jamsinh (50) died on May 4, 2013 in Vejalpur.
Pankaj Singhaji (40) died on April 27, 2013.
44 traffic booths but no facility
According to an assistant sub-inspector with the traffic department, there are 44 traffic booths in city and none of them have facilities for drinking water and toilets. “The department should at least provide a water cooler, so that we can at least get cold water,” he said.
Women cops worst affected
The situation of the women cops in the traffic department is the worst, as there is no facility for a ladies’ toilet at the traffic booths. They have to use toilets at nearby shops or homes.
