by Sajid Raina
SRINAGAR: Before Mohammad Ashraf Dar, a 48-year-old street vendor from the Habak area of Srinagar, puts his stall at Hazratbal, the spot is already simmering with heat. A vendor for the past 20 days, he said he has not seen such a scorching heat wave so fart.
“It’s hell; we are sweating and boiling due to the intense heat wave,” he said. “Even people mostly prefer to stay indoors during the day, so we can’t get a good number of customers.”
Dar said that his fellow street vendor couldn’t endure the heat last Friday and fell unconscious. He was taken to Hazratbal Hospital and has since stopped working, for the time being.
“We’ve had a tradition for decades of shouting all day to attract customers and promote our goods. But now, with the intense heat wave, we’re unable to do even that. The scorching temperatures have made it nearly impossible to continue,” he added.
At Hazratbal, most of the street vendors are elderly, and enduring this intense heat is nearly impossible for us. “Yet, it’s our livelihood, so we have no choice but to continue despite the hardships,” he said.
Similarly, Mohammad Afzal, another street vendor clutching an icy bottle of drinking water, describes facing similar challenges. He says they are “boiling” all day in the scorching heat. Sometimes, vendors leave their stalls and head to a nearby park to find relief in the shade of the trees.
“I’ll say one thing: our trade these days is not doing well at all. We’re only getting 10 to 15 per cent of the usual number of customers throughout the day,” he said.
At Lal Chowk, the situation for street vendors affected by the heat wave is similar to that in Hazratbal. In the bustling and noisy environment, vendors said that they had not experienced such extreme conditions in previous years.
“We have to endure long hours in unbearable, fan-less spaces, leading to physical strain, heat rashes, headaches which negatively impacts our overall well-being,” said Ishfaq Ahmad, a street vendor at Lal Chowk.
He said that the summer heat poses significant challenges for street vendors, affecting both their health and livelihoods.
“Spoilage of food items is very common for those selling cooked and uncooked food. Also, the peak summer heat often coincides with a decline in customer traffic, as potential buyers prefer to stay indoors to avoid the heat,” he added.
“Many of us are now starting our business after 4 PM, but it still isn’t working. Some of us have even installed large umbrellas over our stalls to shield ourselves from the heat, but that hasn’t been very effective either,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, a fruit seller.
“It is very difficult to stay outside all day, but it’s even harder to stay hungry. I have two kids, and I don’t want them to face the same struggles I have. They are studying in a government school and are very bright. I hope they graduate and secure respectable jobs, giving them a better future than mine,” he added.
“Dust is affecting us on the other side as well. But what can we do? Who will listen?” he says.
At Jahangir Chowk, Muzaffar Ahmad, who sells fruits from a roadside cart said that the heat is wreaking havoc on my produce.
“I have to constantly replenish my stock because the fruits spoil so quickly. It’s not just the food that’s suffering—I’m exhausted from the relentless sun and the lack of shade. I’ve tried setting up makeshift awnings, but they offer little respite from the sweltering heat. Business is down, and it’s taking a toll on both my earnings and my health,” he said.
“Every day feels like a battle against the sun,” he added.
Meanwhile, Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded the hottest night(Saturday-Sunday of July 28th) of the season at 24.6°C.
This temperature, which was 5.8°C above normal, is the third-highest minimum temperature in the city’s 132-year meteorological history, according to independent weather forecaster Faizan Arif Keng.
The second-highest minimum temperature was recorded at 24.8°C on July 26, 2021, while the all-time highest was 25.2°C on July 21, 1988.
