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Demand for air conditioners, electric fans and rechargeable fans in the capital Dhaka has surged amid a sizzling hot summer in the country.
According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, temperature in the capital rose to a 58-year record high to hit 40.6°C on Sunday.
Dhaka was one of the 13 districts that recorded temperatures above 40°C on that day.
On Wednesday, the highest temperature in the city was 37.6°C, while it was 37.1°C in the previous day.
Mezbah Ul Haq, a resident of Azimpur area while purchasing an air conditioner for his family, told New Age, ‘Air conditioners are no longer a luxury item. In such a hot and humid weather, it has become a necessity.’
He said, ‘I am purchasing a 1.5-tonne air conditioner for our home with the extra allowance I received for Eid-ul-Fitr. My family is more pleased with receiving the appliance than apparels for Eid because the temperature inside our house is nearly intolerable.’
Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, will be celebrated in the county on April 22 or 23 subject to the moon sighting.
Md Hanif, a proprietor of Walton Electronics in Dhaka, said that in April, sales of air conditioners had almost doubled.
He said, ‘Normally, we sell 15 to 20 units of air conditioners a month, but starting from the last week of March, our sales had more than doubled.’
‘In this month, we have already sold 41 units of air conditioners,’ he added.
Another customer Afifa Zaman, who came to the market to buy a table fan, said, ‘In my room, it is so hot that the ceiling fan can barely ease the heat.’
‘I am searching for a rechargeable table fan so that I can also use it during load-shedding,’ she added.
Akram Khan, a retailer at the Chowk Bazar area in the capital, said that the demand for ceiling fans, table fans and especially rechargeable fans increased by 200 per cent in the past two months.
He said, ‘Rechargeable fans ranging from Tk 2,500 to Tk 5,500 are mostly in demand.’
Shagor Hossain, a retailer of Minister appliances, told New Age, ‘As the demand for air conditioners increased, sales of other electronic goods such as refrigerators dropped drastically.’
‘We sold only 10 to 15 units of refrigerators in March and April, whereas we normally sell 20 to 25 units a month,’ he also said.
There were also customers who complained about increased prices of fans and air conditioners.
Altaf Mahmud, who bought a ceiling fan for himself, said, ‘The prices of all kinds of fans have increased by 20 to 30 per cent.’
The sellers said the increase was due to an increased demand for and lower supply of the appliances.
The prices of air conditioners also increased.
Air conditioners with 1.5-tonne capacity are currently the most popular among buyers.
The prices of a one-tonne air conditioner start from Tk 37,800, whereas those of the 1.5-tonne start from Tk 53,000 and those of the inverter variant start from Tk 65,000.
(NA)
