This year, Owais Ahmed of Srinagar had to do something that he has never done in five years that he is selling home appliances – he has gone out of the air conditioner, and to order more.
Ahmed says, “I used to sell 100-150 AC in a year.
Kashmir is swooping under an unprecedented heatwave this summer. The valley saw its hottest June in five decades, with the average temperature between 32 and 33 ° C – some three degrees above normal. Meanwhile, July, getting hot – on July 5, the temperature in Srinagar was 37.4 degrees Celsius, the highest in seven decades.
The upstream of this is an unprecedented increase in the sales of ACS and cooler, the dealers said that there is now a decrease in the market. “While people buy warm and cold ACs to deal with winter heat, very few houses have bought ACS in summer. Generally, office will buy them. But this time, there is a huge demand for houses,” Ahmed said.
The demand for coolers has also increased – especially in urban areas, where there is a low tree cover. According to Bashir Ahmed, the owner of a shop selling home appliances in Sopore, North Kashmir, the demand has exceeded double. “Where I sold 10 coolers a month ago, I sold 30 this time,” he said.
ACS is no longer luxury, Mohammad Danish said, as he continues his search for one which can be used in summer as well as in winter. “Five years ago, I don’t believe if you told me that we need ACS in summer. But the heat is now getting unbearable and there is a possibility of deteriorating,” he said.
Meanwhile, the heat inspired many people to turn to the valley’s water bodies, cooling many cases of sinking reported. According to officials, 11 people – most of the teenagers – drowned in various parts of the valley, forcing the government to bathe in the water bodies of Kashmir.
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