Hyderabad Traffic Police get cool suits to beat summer heat

The Hyderabad Traffic Police have got some cool gear — literally! — to beat the summer heat. In a city where the summer temperatures go well above 40° Celsius, the 200 traffic cops were on Monday given a special suit that has been designed to keep their body temperature well below what is outside as they work under the sun. 

Hyderabad Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) V Ravinder told IBTimes India that this is a pilot project, and based on its results more policemen could get this cool "jacket." Plans are also afoot to test whether this jacket will work in winter to keep policemen on the roads warm. If they do, the Hyderabad Traffic Police will have a winner on their hands!

Hyderabad has a tropical type of climate, with highest temperatures of 44.5° C and 45.5° C being recorded in May and June, respectively, over the years. Given that policemen have to direct traffic three-four hours at a stretch, it generally takes a heavy toll on them. 

It is to protect the traffic cops from this searing heat that the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology in Hyderabad has sponsored a pilot project for the Hyderabad Traffic Police, as part of which the jackets were made. "We distributed 200 jackets to the personnel today," Ravinder told IBTimes India over the phone on Monday, May 22. 

"The vests are made of a special material that needs them to be dipped in water before a policeman wears one of them. It will keep their body temperature 5-6° C lower than the outside temperature for the three-four hours they work on the road," said the top cop. 

If all goes well, more such suits will be ordered, he told IBTimes India. He also said that the jacket would be tested in winter to see if it can keep traffic cops warm. As it is, the jacket has two layers of fabric separated by a special material that does the trick. If it works in winter as well, the traffic cops can derive two-fold benefit from the jackets.