Hot city grins and beers it

Beverage flies off refrigerator shelves as Met says temperature likely to cross 40 degree Celsius

The mercury is rising, and so is the consumption of beer in the city.

And with the sweltering heat threatening to get worse, beer companies are likely to see even better sales. The Met department has predicted that the temperature will go up to 41 degrees Celsius over the next two days.

According to Medha Khole, director, Indian Meteorological Department, the city touching 40 degrees Celsius is nothing unusual.

"In fact we can look forward to some sweaty days ahead as the temperature will hit almost 41 degree Celsius," said Khole. "The primary reasons are: low humidity, and winds from the northern region, which are both hot and dry."

Vijay Kutty, president, Pune District Wine Trader's Associations, said "It's a good time for beer consumption. In the last month the sales have gone up by 40 per cent, which is a good sign."

Aniket Hagawane, proprietor, Ashish Beer Shoppee on Sinhgad Road, said, "Though it is difficult to give an exact figure, I can say we are selling a large number of beer bottles everyday. I have customers who prefer beer only during summer to beat the heat."

Nightclubs and restaurants also report the beer phenomenon.

Khodu Irani, proprietor, High Spirits, said, "My nightclub is targeted at the younger crowd and during summers they either prefer beer or cocktails."

Newton Kolkar, restaurant manager of Not Just Jazz by the Bay on University Road, said 70 per cent of the sale in the restaurant was by beer, and cans, pints and full bottles were all flying off the shelves.

But there may be a shower or two to cool things down next week.

Dr A B Majumdar, deputy director general of the Met said, "It's likely that it will rain on Thursday or Friday, but it may equally well not happen."

Last year the maximum temperature was 41.3 degrees Celsius.