SHEIKHUPURA, May 21: Persistent hot and dry weather has become an endurance test for people, who are facing a great deal of difficulty in performing daily chores.

Several people have died of heat stroke and many others fainted across the Punjab in the current season. Labourers working in the open, farmers, vendors and students are bearing the brunt of these severe conditions.

Mustafa, the father of four, said all of his children were school-going. Saying that they had to face an ordeal while returning home from school, he demanded the government that it should announce summer vacation without delay.

According to an agriculturist, the severe weather might affect the paddy sowing, as there was already shortage of water in the province. He alleged that influential landlords and elected representatives stole most of the canal water and the irrigation department officials were playing the role of silent spectartors.

Many other people this correspondent talked to said frequent power disruptions added insult to injury. The farmers could not get water from tubewells, students failed to study and people spent sleepless nights in the face of electricity breakdowns, they added.