Ahmedabad traffic cops wear ‘AC helmets’ to stay cool
Rana is among the six constables who have been given these helmets on a trial basis by the traffic police. The helmet powers from a battery that is worn at the waist and needs charging every eight hours.
4 min read
Traffic constable Divyarajsinh Rana wears an 'AC helmet' while on duty at Pirana crossroads, Ahmedabad. Express Standing for hours, directing traffic on the busy Pirana Crossroad near the garbage dumping yard, is no longer a strain on Divyarajsinh Rana, a 27-year-old constable with the Ahmedabad City Traffic Police. He wears a “AC helmet” that not only helps keep him cool, but also protects him from inhaling dust and chemical gases during his daily eight-hour shifts.
Rana is among the six constables who have been given these helmets on a trial basis by the traffic police. The helmet powers from a battery that is worn at the waist and needs charging every eight hours. While it is made of plastic and helps protect the head like any ordinary helmet, it is 500 gm heavier than a regular traffic police helmet, Rana said, as he knocked its surface to show its sturdiness.
The helmet is designed in such a way that it pulls in atmospheric air and diverts the same to the face to reduce temperature and dust. The air is also filtered in the helmet, according to Noida-based Karam Safety Private Limited, which manufactured the product. In terms of appearance, regular traffic helmets are thinner but the AC helmets have a more durable design with an extra fan-like structure on the front that facilities intake and outtake of air.
“So far, the AC helmets have been great. Except during monsoon, when the dust settles down, the Pirana dump yard releases a huge amount of dust and chemical gases, irritating our eyes. The AC helmet has a dust shield on my nose, making it easier to see. Moreover, the fan inside keeps the sweat away and my energy intact,” Rana told The Indian Express.
“Though it is a bit heavier, the helmet is sturdier than the earlier ones,” he added.
The traffic police’s experiment with AC helmets started on August 10. If it works, the helmet will be yet another device to be worn by traffic constables, some of whom already sport body-worn cameras for surveillance activities. In 2021, around 10,000 body-worn cameras were deployed in the city.
The helmet offers four types of adjustable speed for fans, which fully cover the face of the officer, making it better to breathe and feel cool. Moreover, a dust shield is attached in the helmet where the eyes of the officer would be located. Rana said that with these helmets, the need to use handkerchiefs and dark sunglasses and splash their faces with water to remove dust from the eyes are a thing of the past.
Till now, while traffic officers in the city had options like wearing raincoats during monsoon, sweaters and jackets in the winter and fluorescent jackets at night, they had no such options for the summer.
Safin Hasan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Traffic East), Ahmedabad City, said: “The AC helmets were given to me by the higher authorities to provide feedback. We identified three locations – Pirana crossroads, Thakkarnagar char rasta and Nana Chiloda Circle, which report high pollution and traffic volume. When you are working eight hours a day, both pollution and noise take a toil on your body, especially at the Pirana crossroad where there is a dumping yard.”
“We have tried cartridge masks before AC helmets… they didn’t perform well, causing breathing problems for officers,” Hasan added. A cartridge mask has a filter that removes gases and other vapours from the air through adsorption, absorption or chemisorption. However, it doesn’t protect the eyes from dust.
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