At high noon on busy Poonamalee High Road on Wednesday, a traffic police constable mopped his sweaty brow and then reached out for a chilled glass of lemonade. He downed it in one go and returned to his post with a smile on his face. In a bid to help traffic policemen beat the heat, the State Government has come up with a cool idea to provide them lemon juice while at work.
On Tuesday, during the demand for grants for the Police Department in the State Assembly, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that the drink would be served to over 6,500 traffic police personnel during duty hours. Pointing out that the officers manned traffic for four hours each in the mornings and evenings, she said they would be served the drink at intervals of two hours from 8 a.m to 4 p.m every day for four months.
A day after the announcement, traffic policemen in the city were in for a pleasant surprise. “We began serving lemonade right from Wednesday. The officers seemed happy,” said Sanjay Arora, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic).
Summer time is especially stressful for traffic policemen as they stand for long hours under the sun battling vehicle fumes and heavy traffic. The welcome gesture is expected to bring them some relief. “Though we wear pith hats, the scorching sun drains us completely. A glass of lemonade every two hours will help us a great deal,” said a traffic constable.
Officers are working on the logistics of supplying the drink to various police stations across the city. “Right now, it is centrally procured from the additional commissioner's office on Poonamalee High Road and sent to different areas. It would save us time and effort if we could source the lemonade from our respective zones,” said a traffic constable.
Keywords: CCTP
Its not traffic constables the only ones on the street during hot noon! There are plenty of other for their own work reasons. That is why there is something called ice box and each constable could have one and carry cool drink - anything of their choice and have it, like millions of constructions workers and others do. Stop this as dinakaran says and see if you can make the traffic flow smoother, pollution lesser and public transport higher and better - lemonade cant wash off your inefficiency in these!
A well thought out decision to take care of the traffic cops who toil in the sweltering heat.Public are sympathetic and are well aware of the ordeal the cops undergo while on duty either, traffic or bandobust.The refreshing drink will no doubt energize the cops to discharge their duties with greater enthusiasm and efficiency.They should be strict with traffic violators and a piece of advice :if only you stop taking the "Mamool" from errant drivers your esteem in the public eye will soar to great heights. Good luck to the Chennai City Cops.
Dinakaran,
Forget about the CM, the bad roads and bad every thing. Think about the poor constables standing in the middle of the maddening traffic emitting toxic fumes, with the hot summer sun beating down. If the people had civic sense and followed traffic rules, these constables wouldn't have to do what they are doing now.
Give them a break. Their job is not easy and giving them two cups of lemonade isn't going to take any money out of other infrastructure budget.
Even trivial things need to be appreciated if they benefit the community.Some people do not want to accept this,probably out of loyalty to their erstwhile bosses.The real problems can not be solved over night by penning poems or conducting semmozhi maanadu.
I applaud the authorities for this action. Such little things go a long way in spreading goodness all round.
Very good news, i am very happy for our police. Poor guys, they have to face the heat all day
Please give them fruits and electrolytes as well. The fluid drain on their bodies is very heavy. It is a thankless job. The biggest favour we can do to our traffic policemen and women is driving properly and courteously. I have given tetra packs of orange juice to a few traffic policemen on duty and they are always thankful, so this move on a city wide scale I hope can alleviate some of the stress of their jobs in this harsh summer.
Very good initiative....KUdos to the person whoever has initiated this.
I do this always to my daughter. She is four years old. She looks at something expensive in the shop and asks for it, which I cannot afford. So I buy her a chocolate bar and she's really happy! Does'nt the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu have anything else to speak about in the Assembly, then when the police constables would be given lime juice? How hypocritical! You forget all the real problems of overcrowding in the streets, bad roads, bad infrastructure and give refreshments to the police.
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