The showers this week have brought relief but you know it’s momentary. If the mercury touched 43°C in April, May may just be worse. And the heat has affected, not just our energy levels but also, our businesses. The winning formula for business models now is — not sundar, sasta, tikau but — air-conditioner.
Samit Kumar Mondal has had a clothes shop in AE Market since 1993 but this is the year that broke the camel’s back. “I’m getting a two-tonne AC in two weeks,” he says, wiping his brow and settling before a table fan.
“Salt Lake customers, as it is, lack patience. Add to it the unbearable heat and they are in no mood to browse clothes. I’ve had to shell out Rs 12,000 for a new AC connection but it makes business sense. The way none of us wants to leave the cool comfort of an ATM these days, our shop will be a respite for customers to relax and browse at leisure,” says Mondal of Janaki Traders.
Shibu Pal, of New Abarani sari shop in CA Market, says their AC is always on. “Today, as an exception, we are using fans as the weather’s cool and we don’t expect much footfall on Rabindra Jayanti anyway,” he said on Wednesday. “But generally, without AC, neither customers nor staff would survive indoors.”
Campus news
Trina Datta’s daughter suffered so much in the heat that they changed her school altogether. “Tiana’s old school had non-AC buses and she would fall sick, particularly as she’s asthmatic,” says the CF Block resident. “This was one of the main reasons for shifting to DPS Megacity, that has air-conditioned classrooms as well as buses.”
SPK Jain Futuristic School in New Town, which opened in June 2023, is centrally air-conditioned. It has a multipurpose play area on the sixth floor as also an indoor basketball court. “We opened in this session on April 3 and children could play outside only for a week after that. Since we have an indoor facility, we could shift the period indoors,” said Darshan Mutha, the director.
Since the air-conditioning bill is factored into the operational cost of the school, he accepts that it will not affect the running of the school even if such a phenomenal rise in mercury becomes an annual affair every summer. “It is simply too hot to use the outdoor playground,” he said.
But he does not think an air-conditioned school will pull students out of non-AC schools. “One has to think of the financial implications. Not all parents can afford the shift.”
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, one of the most popular schools east of the Bypass, has no plans to install AC in classrooms. “It is true that we have not seen continuous 40°C-plus temperatures over a period. But installing AC would mean increasing consumption of fossil fuel which is triggering global warming in the first place. Nor is continuous exposure to AC good for health,” said principal Arun Dasgupta, adding that he was not even going so far as to consider the financial burden.
Activity time
Saimantika Munshi has an energetic son but his after-school activities have had to be chosen keeping the weather in mind.
“Shloke wanted to learn tennis but was getting a slot at 5.30pm, which is still too hot to be out in the sun. Karate is at 4.30, which is out of the question. Football classes have been pushed from 4 to 7pm but that’s rather late as the sessions go on for an hour-and-half,” says the resident of DLF New Town Heights.
Shloke now swims in the evenings, learns art in his teacher’s air-conditioned house, and has tutors for keyboard and academics — all in the comfort of his own home.
Warming Up Kids, a football coaching centre, has pushed back classes from 4 to 5pm in Salt Lake’s CB and CD parks. “But even that wasn’t enough. We’ve kept an indoor option and half the students have opted for it. This group receives training in fitness and video analysis of their past games,” says Runa Kedia, who runs the centre.
Restaurants
Open-air restaurants were quite the rage during the pandemic but are taking a beating in the heat.
“The intense heat during the day is as it is keeping footfall low,” says Sumanta Maity, general manager of the Golden Tulip hotel. “Those who do venture out are heading to our indoor restaurant for relief. Previously, our Noir sky lounge bustled from 6pm onwards but now, there’s a shift towards much later arrivals, closer to 11.30pm or even midnight, when the temperature cools down. We stay open till 1am so can accommodate them.”
The food court of Mani Square on a weekday. In the weekends, all the tables get taken
Nowhere is the effect of air-conditioning on business more starkly visible than in the food court of Mani Square. While not a single table stays free in the AC area in the evenings on weekends and holidays, like May 1, outside the glass door enclosing the air-conditioned space, the terrace restaurant La Griglia is bereft of even a single customer.
“It was tough even at lunchtime with a loo blowing. The management is considering covering up the space,” said a mall official. “For now, we are offering our menu card to customers at the foodcourt and bringing in food if they can manage to secure a table,” he said.
Serra Cafe, which opened on November 29 in Sector V, despite being "a greenhouse rooftop cafe", has insured itself against the elements by building a retractable roof. The management was wiser from the experience in summer and monsoon at their other Salt Lake hotel, De Sovrani, which has a conventional rooftop cafe. DIrector Kamalini Paul admits that she wanted to avoid losing footfall in summer when she commissioned the roof. "But the heat this year was desert-level! It worked out well for us. Even in the peak of summer, you can get the rooftop feel while staying in the AC. People could not go elsewhere during the heatwave so they came to us in droves and enjoyed the greenery all around," smiled Kamalini. The place is more like a glasshouse with greenery now. "We will open the rooftop in winter when the weather gets pleasant," she says.
Banquet halls
“When I started my business in 1978, AC halls were a rarity. But yes, it wasn’t this hot then and people had a higher threshold for discomfort,” says Dhananjoy Malakar of Dayamoy Decorators and Appayan Caterer in CK Market. They provide for weddings and other occasions. “But today the AC is not a luxury but necessity. People are cutting costs elsewhere to host events in air-conditioned halls. Without it, guests can neither dress up nor eat to their heart’s content.”
AL Block got its community hall last year but owing to paucity of funds, only the first floor could be air-conditioned. “We haven’t been getting many bookings as the wedding season is yet to begin and also, people are hesitant to schedule events before elections. Recently a Sector V company utilised the hall for interviews, which they conducted upstairs for comfort. The ground floor was only for enquiries,” says the block’s executive committee member Ashis Hazra.
Taxis
The heat is taking a toll on Binay Poddar, a yellow cab driver since 1995. “I’m forced to turn off the engine and rest between 11am and 3pm, even if it means incurring losses,” he explains, resting under the Metro viaduct opposite City Centre. “I avoid congested areas like Burrabazar where traffic crawls. New Town offers some relief with its open roads and occasional breeze while driving. It’s another matter that most passengers are opting for app cabs now as they have ACs.”
Another cab driver, Manoj Kumar Shaw, says the tree cover has reduced significantly since 1998, when he started out. “Now we have to search for shades to park the car,” says the driver who was splashing water on his face under the Metro viaduct opposite Croma in New Town. “The heat is killing our business as everyone wants air-conditioned app cabs, even if it means paying more.”
Hotcake AC sales
Of all product categories on sale at Khosla Electronics, no prizes for guessing that ACs are selling the most at the moment. “Sixty per cent are first-time buyers and many of these are small commercial outlets,” says Sovan Dutta of the store opposite City Centre. “Customers want immediate delivery but there is a backlog and the whole process is taking seven to 10 days.”
Great Eastern, another electronics store near PNB Island, echoes the view “Customers are landing up with doctor’s certificates and asking us to speed up the delivery process. When we plead helplessness, they are taking the godown’s address and going over themselves to pick up the AC,” says salesperson Tapasi Dutta Barua.
How are you surviving the heat? Email to saltlake@abp.in