Excessive load shedding of electricity during the blazing weather has badly affected water supply in Rawalpindi city. Shortage of water has irked citizens and adversely impacted their social, industrial and domestic activities.
With a dreadful rise in temperature, citizens face load shedding of up to eight hours in main areas of the city despite claims by the Ministry of Water and Power that power cuts of up to six hours are being exercised in urban areas.
Locals said that load shedding led to closure of majority of tube-wells during water supply hours as the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) had not instructed the staff at the tube-wells to turn them on when the power supply is restored. Helpless citizens are compelled to hire costly services of water tankers in order to fulfill their required share of water for daily use.
Students at schools endure nuisance from prolonged power outages during scorching afternoons as fans remain motionless, while cold drinking water is not available at these educational institutions too. Incidents have been reported where students fainted due to intense temperature and dehydration.
Electricity load shedding has also affected activities at government and private offices. A gradual increase has been noticed in irregularity of people working in various government sectors as employees prefer to take leave and stay indoors instead of working out under extreme conditions.