Even before noon, Banda, becomes eerily quiet. At 10:00 AM, an oppressive heat wave makes it impossible for the entire town to carry on with their activities, compelling everyone to retreat inside their houses and turn bustling streets into deserted roads.
In order to survive the harsh summer months, people in the area have had to make drastic changes to their routines. In the neighboring market town of Attara, Lakhan Gupta, a local jeweler, has been forced to adjust his schedule in accordance with the blazing heat.
“If you don’t do your business in the twilight hours, you don’t do your business at all,” says Gupta.
Now, Gupta wakes up at the break of dawn and leaves for his shop at 6:00 AM to get his work done before the real heat kicks in. By 9:00 AM, the temperature becomes uncomfortable enough for Gupta to call it quits. By 10:00 AM, it is totally deserted outside his shop; the road glows in a heat haze.
Although Gupta always leaves the metal shutters of his jewelry store open all day long, it is more or less an act of symbolism. His customers never leave their homes under the intense rays of sunlight during the early hours of the day until the temperature starts cooling off in the later part of the day.
According to climatologists, these high early morning temperatures are just one of the many effects of increasing summer peaks in the state of Rajasthan. From the perspective of a small business owner such as Gupta, the practice has become a major economic problem as he is forced to shorten his working hours.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News