Hyderabad: With the Metro Rail works narrowing down busy roads, traffic police personnel are being forced to stand in the hot sun for hours to regulate traffic.

The earlier practice was to stand in the shade and oversee traffic during the hottest part of the day, but no longer.

Traffic police sources said that at the Jubliee bus station at Secunderabad as well as Ameerpet, to mention two spots, the personnel have to stand in the sun because moving away from the spot could lead to traffic jams. A traffic police official said, “We have a major problem with two-wheelers that try to find way into the smallest of gaps. Therefore where the pillar and viaduct works are going on, we are being posted to ensure that the traffic is properly controlled.”

An offshoot of this is that they are unable to cool off. The traffic personnel are told time and again at training camps that they must have buttermilk, lemonade and water regularly.

A traffic police personnel said, “The water that we carry gets hot within half an hour. We keep getting water from nearby stores or from the earthen pots kept by social organisations.”But then, that means they have to leave their post for some time. Therefore, some of them keep their water in the roadside pushcarts to save time. Dr R. Raghu, general physician, explained, “Traffic police personnel are prone to loss of fluid, muscle cramps, burning urination and irritation in the body. They also suffer from heat boils which leads to a lot of scratching. Hence it is important that they have tender coconut water, buttermilk and lots of water at regular intervals.” They must also wear good quality sunglasses to protect their eyes.