Rising temperatures push up AC sales in Kashmir: ‘Would not have imagined this 5 years ago'

Indian Express

2 days ago

This year, Owais Ahmad from Srinagar had to do something he has never done in the five years that he's been selling household appliances — he has run out of air conditioners, and had to order for more.
'I used to sell 100-150 ACs a year. But in the first three days of July alone, I have sold 150 ACs. I'm getting more calls from customers but have already exhausted my stocks. The wait time for the new stock is a fortnight,' Ahmad says.
Kashmir is sweltering under an unprecedented heatwave this summer. The Valley saw its hottest June in five decades, with the average temperatures standing between 32 and 33 degrees Celsius — some three degrees above normal. July, meanwhile, is getting hotter — the temperature in Srinagar on July 5 was 37.4 degree Celsius, the highest in seven decades.
The upshot of this is an unprecedented rise in the sale of ACs and coolers, with dealers saying there's now a shortage in the market. 'While people would buy hot and cold ACs to cope with winter heat, very few households bought ACs in the summer. Generally, offices would buy these. But this time, there is a huge demand for homes,' Ahmad said.
There has been a rise in the demand for coolers too — especially in urban areas, where there is less tree cover. According to Bashir Ahmad, who owns a shop selling household appliances in north Kashmir's Sopore, the demand has more than doubled. 'Where I sold 10 coolers in a month before, I've sold 30 this time,' he said.
ACs are no longer luxuries, Mohammad Danish said, as he continues his search for one that could be used in the summer as well as the winter. 'Five years ago, I wouldn't have believed it if you told me we needed ACs in the summer. But the heat is now getting unbearable and is likely to get worse,' he said.
Meanwhile, the heat has prompted several people to turn to the Valley's water bodies to cool off, leading to several cases of reported drownings. According to officials, 11 people — mostly teenagers — drowned in different parts of the Valley, forcing the government to ban bathing in Kashmir's water bodies.
Bashaarat Masood is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express. He has been covering Jammu and Kashmir, especially the conflict-ridden Kashmir valley, for two decades. Bashaarat joined The Indian Express after completing his Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University in Kashmir. He has been writing on politics, conflict and development. Bashaarat was awarded with the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2012 for his stories on the Pathribal fake encounter. ... Read More