RAWALPINDI: With temperature rising to 44°C, unannounced power cuts from six to eight hours in the garrison city are testing the nerves of the residents.

In a tweet, the Islamabad Electric Supply company (Iesco) said: “Due to gap in demand and supply, power load management of different duration has been started in different areas of Iesco. As soon as situation normalises uninterrupted power supply will be restored.”

“This is a temporary phase and will normalise hopefully in a few days,” it further stated.

However, the residents feared that the situation would go from bad to worse in coming days. They said frequent power cuts had created acute water shortage in many areas.

“What measures the government has taken to supply uninterrupted electricity to the people,” said an annoyed Mohammad Iftikhar, a resident of Faisal Colony on Airport Road.

He said, “After increase in edibles’ prices, the electricity crisis has started taking its toll on the people. We are paying heavy charges for the electricity but it is not available. It is the failure of the government to overcome the energy crisis.”

Muhammad Naeem, a resident of Media Town, said, “The life of common man has become miserable but nobody is here to listen to their problems.”

He said the daily routine of the people had been disturbed as they could not sleep at night and had to bear the brunt of hot weather in the day.

Imran Akbar, a resident of Ratta Amral, said that the residents of the area were facing numerous problems due to frequent power cuts.

“The tariff of electricity is increasing with each passing day but it is not available for common man,” he said.

On the other hand, the Met Office has predicted rain on Thursday in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

“Hot and dry weather is likely to prevail in most parts, while very hot in plain areas of the country. However, rain-thunderstorm is expected at isolated places in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Islamabad and Potohar Region,” the official said.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2021