Faced with overwhelming heat and end -of -life cars, Afghan taxi drivers have found the parade: fix portable air conditioners on their roofs which send cold air inside the cabin, to the great pleasure of passengers.
For a few years in Kandahar, a city in the south of Afghanistan where temperatures are cheerfully exceeding 40 degrees in summer, it is not uncommon to see blue taxis walking with their roofs-to the place of luggage and package- A air conditioning cube, whose wide aluminum arm has been rushing through a window.
AFP
“It works better than the air conditioning of the car, which only cools the front of the car,” said Abdul Bari, a 34 -year -old driver. “This air conditioning propagates air through the whole vehicle.”
Gul Mohammed, another 32 -year -old driver, spent 3,000 Afghanis (36 euros) on this system which he connects to the battery of his taxi and which he regularly fills with water.
Others are connected to solar panels, also installed on the roof.
AFP
“He started to be extremely hot three or four years ago. As the air conditioning of the car does not work and that it would cost too much to repair it, a manufacturer made me a tailor -made cooler, “explains Gul Mohammad, who has not charged the race more since it was fresh.
Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, is also one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
AFP
The Afghan weather department estimates that 2025 is already one of the hottest years ever recorded in the country.
Murtaza, a 21 -year -old air conditioner manufacturer, notes that taxi demand has been growing for two or three years and has welcomed “progress”.
“Many cars were not equipped with air conditioning anyway, which is why they are installed,” he said to AFP, in his small store in the center of Kandahar.
The Afghan cities are often saturated by aging vehicles, which are available a last life after being transferred from neighboring countries.
“Without air conditioning, it’s very difficult,” says Norullah, a 19 -year -old passenger, a face a few centimeters from the cold air outlet. “In the taxis where it was installed (on the roof), it’s really good (…) because the heat these days is extreme.”
In 2024, almost nine million Afghans were affected by climatic vagaries and more than 500,000 were moved by floods, drought and other disasters, according to the UN.
Few dwellings are equipped with air conditioners due to their cost and recurrent electricity breakdowns.