Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 7
People continued to suffer under severe heat wave conditions in Dimapur for the second day, with temperatures reeling between 34-37 degrees Celsius, making normal life uncomfortable.
One of the worst hit was the Police, especially those doing Traffic duties. Traffic policemen are known to stand for prolonged hours at busy traffic intersections whether rain or sunshine comes and are being exposed to scorching heat, noise and air pollution. Unlike in the metros where traffic signal lights are installed, traffic personnel in the State manually regulate traffic under the sweltering heat with risks of dehydration.
There are about 280-290 traffic personnel including mahilla and attachments from Homeguard personnel engaged in manning various junctions of the city. At several junctions, there is no proper traffic island and they have to stand in the middle of the road to manage the traffic.
Police booths being set up at various places offer some relief under the shed and fan but do not help much owing to erratic power supply caused by load shedding. To beat the heat, the Police Department has been distributing cold drinking water to personnel on duty. It was learnt that an air conditioner has been installed at one of the police booths though power supply comes in the way of its intended usage.
They work in two shifts, making them stand on the road from 6:30 am to 2:30 pm and 2:30 pm to 8 pm. Besides, there is the recently launched Medical First Responder Team doing round the clock duty for attending to road accidents.
Performing duties under the scorching sun, the traffic personnel are also faced with regular altercation from the public, especially two-wheeler riders who do not wear helmets for their own safety. Such working conditions had led to severe stress among the traffic constables.
Educational institutions were also hit as the students reported of unbearable heat inside fully packed classrooms compounded with erratic power supply. In one school, the students were let out in the premises on Wednesday to get some air when there was no power supply.
Business was also reported to have been slightly affected during daytime as people preferred to stay indoors. However, restaurateurs said their business was normal like any other day, as some of them disclosed that customers came in more numbers both during daytime and evening to cool themselves from the blazing heat.
‘Coolies’ were also among the worst hit, as there were less people in the market thus having no baggage or shopping articles to carry.
Some government employees on conditions on anonymity said they chose to stay indoors by calling in sick in order to avoid the scorching heat.
A resident of Notun Bosti who wished to identify himself only as Imchen said he had to splash the tinned roof of his house and the compound with water from bore-well several times on Wednesday to beat the unbearable heat.
Another resident of the same area said she was splashing water in the pig-sty from time to time lest the five pigs she was rearing die in the hot weather.
Some farmers expressed apprehensions about decline in crop harvest if the heat continued. In some localities, people reported about being huddled into the homes of neighbours who have air conditioners but without much comfort owing to the fluctuating power supply.
