Traffic SP Rajiv Ranjan displays a cowboy hat at his office in Ranchi on Monday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi roads may soon have something in common with Bangalore.

Traffic cops of the capital may be found sporting smart white cowboy hats like their counterparts in India’s Silicon city, if a proposal of the traffic police department gets approved.

Impressed with traffic policemen donning cowboy hats in the Karnataka capital, Ranchi traffic SP Rajiv Ranjan shot a letter to state police headquarters, requesting them to introduce similar headgear for the 350-odd traffic cops in Jharkhand’s capital.

Currently, Ranchi traffic policemen wear small red caps with white shirts and blue trousers.

The hats, if introduced, will establish a distinct identity for traffic police. According to traffic SP, the white hats match well with the existing uniform of white shirts-blue trousers uniform. Plus, they would double up as umbrellas to protect the traffic policemen from sun.

“I wrote a letter to DGP Rajeev Kumar in the second week of this month to demand smart cowboy hats for our traffic cops,” Ranjan said, adding that he had even brought a sample hat.

“I feel that traffic cops wearing hats would get a new identity and people would be able to distinguish them among crowds. Besides, they will protect our men from scorching heat,” he said. “Though they have big black umbrellas and raincoats, controlling traffic while holding an umbrella is very difficult.

Traffic policemen like Mithilesh Kumar, deputed near Morabadi, agree. “Humlog ki liye accha hoga, garmi se to bachege. (These hats would be good for us. At least, it will protect us from the scorching sun),” he added.

Assistant sub-inspector B.K. Singh, who was managing traffic at Sarjana Chowk on Monday with policeman Shailesh Kumar, said he would prefer hats over caps. “The caps that we now wear are pretty small. Many of us often take it off. However, hats are usually more comfortable to wear and act as sun shield. A sample of the proposed one is at our Kutchery office and it surely looks impressive,” said Singh.