Before your shift: what to carry and wear
- A bottle of drinking water, and ORS if you have it.
- Thin, loose, light-coloured cotton clothes.
- A light-coloured long-sleeve shirt and trousers, so the sun doesn't hit your skin directly.
- Something to cover your head when you are off the bike: a cap, towel or cloth.
- Shoes or chappals. Never walk barefoot in the sun.
- A charged phone, so you can call for help if you feel unwell.
Drink before you feel thirsty
By the time you feel thirsty, your body may already be short of water. The Health Ministry suggests a cup of water every 20 minutes or more often for outdoor work.
Good to drink: water, ORS, lemon water, buttermilk, lassi, fruit juice with a little salt.
Better to avoid in the heat: tea, coffee, fizzy soft drinks, very sugary drinks and alcohol. They make you lose more body fluid.
Refill your bottle at every chance: at the store, the hub or a rest point.
Plan around the hottest hours
The Health Ministry advises staying out of the sun especially between 12 noon and 3 pm, and avoiding hard outdoor work in the afternoon. If your app lets you choose shifts, put more of your hours in the cooler morning and evening.
IMD issues heat wave warnings every day after 4 pm, with a forecast for the next four days. Check the weather news in the evening and plan the next day.
On orange and red heat alert days, an NDMA advisory asks platforms not to make work mandatory between 11 am and 4 pm, and to give a 15-minute cooling break every 90 minutes of logged-in work. Experts say this advice is not legally binding, so ask your store or hub what they actually allow.
Where to cool down between orders
Take short breaks in the shade between orders. Some companies say they have places for riders to rest:
- Amazon: Project Ashray, 100 air-conditioned rest stops in major cities, open to riders from other companies too.
- Zomato: over 5,000 rest points with shade and water, also open to other gig workers.
- Zepto: an indoor resting space with drinking water and washrooms at every store.
These are the companies' own claims. Ask at your store or hub what is there near you.
When to stop riding
Stop and move to a cool place if you feel dizzy, sick, a headache, very thirsty, or your heart and breathing are fast. Don't finish "just one more order" first. Drink water and get medical help. Riding while dizzy puts you and others on the road at risk.
If a fellow rider is confused, very hot or has stopped sweating, it may be heatstroke. That is an emergency:
- Call 112 at once.
- Move them to a cool, shaded place.
- Pour cold water on their skin or clothes and fan them.
- Loosen their clothes.
- Give water only if they are conscious. No tea, coffee or cold drinks.
Other Delhi numbers: medical emergency 108, CATS ambulance 102, disaster management 1077 and 1070.
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