How the men who keep us cool battle the heat

NEW DELHI: With North India sizzling in the heatwave, Naresh Singh’s phone has been ringing non-stop in the last few weeks. The pressure of working all day in the intense sun made the Gurugram-based AC technician feel a little faint recently. “I drank some Glucon D, took a short break and resumed my job. There’s no time to rest,” says the 27-year-old who hails from Bihar.
As temperatures soar across the country, it’s common to see AC technicians scurrying about on their two-wheelers carrying small gas cylinders.But not many spare a thought for the men whose job it is to keep them cool. Sometimes it’s even difficult to get water from customers. “When we ask for a sip in farmhouses or the homes of the rich, they just ignore it and tell us to finish the work quickly instead,” says Mohammad Alam, a 30-year-old AC technician who admits to getting heat-induced headaches.
Though he usually works from 7am to 9pm every day, Alam tries to reduce his road travel during the hot afternoons. Due to the high temperatures, he wasn’t able to fast during Ramzan this year either. “I tried it on the first day but couldn’t bear it,” he says.
Mumbai-based Hazrat Shaikh, who works with Urban Company, too found it difficult to work while fasting during Ramzan. “It was especially difficult to work between 12pm and 4pm as it gets very hot,” he says. Shaikh has also seen a sudden spike in demand since mid-April. “Recently, I ended up servicing seven ACs at a single customer’s house,” he says.
Service provider Urban Company confirms that the demand for AC services almost doubled in March-April 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021.
While the cost of spare parts such as copper pipes and gas refilling has increased considerably since last year, technicians say their own labour charges range between Rs 400 and 500 in Delhi-NCR. “If we ask for more money, customers won’t call us,” says Hira Singh, an AC technician from Uttarakhand who has been working in Delhi and Gurgaon since 2002. Besides servicing requests, Hira says there is a rise in complaints of air conditioners breaking down due to overheating after being used continuously.
Though they keep others cool, most AC technicians don’t have an AC at their own rented accommodations. Irfan, 30, who works in Delhi, says it is difficult to afford the high electricity bills that come with air-conditioning.
Most technicians are resigned to the sizzling temperatures. “We have to do it for the sake of rozi-roti (livelihood),” adds Hira.