The searing heat since April has sent people rushing to Kamala market where desert coolers are made, sold and bought.

The scene at the market is one of frenzy: hammers bang noisily on aluminum sheets, people rush hither and thither, phones ring constantly and traffic jams are a common sight. Air cooler dealers here are doing a roaring business as never before in the past few years.

``It is after a gap of three years that our business has been as good as it is this season,'' Ashok Madaan, a leading air cooler manufacturer in the market, said.

Meteorologists point out that last summer was not all that hot. In fact, it was only in 1995 that the temperature crossed the 45 degree centigrade mark.This year too, the summer began late. Consequently, as late as March the market for air coolers did not pick up. However, the unrelenting April sun has forced Delhiites to opt for coolers.

The sudden spurt in demand last fortnight or so was unexpected. ``Keeping the experience of the past few years in mind and the relative lack of orders in hand till March, nobody was prepared to take the risk of keeping large stocks. But the sweltering heat has seen a sudden increase in the demand which the market finds difficult to meet,'' Vicky Sethi, a dealer in all types of coolers, said.

In the last fortnight, all spare parts for a cooler -- fans, pumps, tubes, switches, grills -- have simply disappeared from the market. ``I have sent numerous retail customers empty-handed as I do not have stocks to sell,'' a dealer lamented.

``Over the past week, air cooler prices have shot up by 10 per cent, but there is no fall in demand in sight,'' Madaan said. In fact, cooler dealers are raising prices arbitrarily to ward off the customers, but they keep trooping in, he added.

Kamala market which otherwise sells aluminum boxes and sundry electronic items is working overtime to cool homes and offices. ``I keep my shop open throughout the night and day. My labourers sleep early in the morning, but are up soon and get back to work,'' a manufacturer who has received orders for over 250 air cooler bodies to be delivered in two days said.

But the labourers working under the hot sun are not fuming. Raju, a handicapped worker, said: ``I earn about Rs 200 a day fitting air coolers. It is a cool way to earn money, isn't it?''