Tempers are running high in the Indian capital as the city reels under an intense heatwave, with temperatures soaring to around 44 degree Celcius.
Over half a dozen Indian states have been affected and officials say that at least 24 people have died as a result of the heat.
The situation has not been helped by prolonged power outages lasting eight to 12 hours in New Delhi neighbourhoods and erratic water supplies over the past few days.
Residents of Dilshad Garden in East Delhi and Lado Sarai in the city's south-west attacked the local offices of the electricity distribution company after enduring power outages of 10-12 hours.
People even blocked roads to register their anger and the police had to resort to baton charge to disperse angry mobs.
Protests over water shortages turned violent in Sangam Vihar locality, leaving nine people injured, days after one person died in a scuffle in a queue at a public water tap in the Okhla industrial area.
"The heat is unbearable. We cannot even switch on the fan, let alone the air-conditioner. Inside the house, it's like a furnace," said P.R. Menon, 81, of Dilshad Garden, a heart patient.
In the affluent Gurgaon suburb, an IT, manufacturing and shopping centre, people have taken to sleeping in their cars with the air-conditioner on.
"I have no other option but to switch on the air-conditioner of my car for a couple of hours of sound sleep," Mr Rajiv Puri, a senior executive with a state-owned company, was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times.
"My children are hanging out in malls as we cannot even run fans at home," he said.
Malls, hospitals and condominiums in India have back-up generators to help them cope with power outages.
The power problems have been caused by delayed monsoon rains, which have led to a decline in the water levels in reservoirs used to produce hydro-electric power.
Promila Nayar, 66, wife of a retired engineer, said she had told her son, who lives in Mumbai with his family, not to visit on holiday this time.
Though she has air-conditioners in all rooms in her condominium, there is not enough power to run even most of the fans.
"We have put one bed and a sofa in the drawing room where we sit under one fan," she said.
Schools have been told to defer reopening by a week to July8 after the summer vacation in view of the heatwave and government offices have been told to curb the use of air-conditioners to save electricity.
Delhi's neighbouring states Punjab and Haryana, too, have banned the use of air-conditioners in government offices, state-run corporations and universities to tide over the power crisis.
Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit wants power distribution companies to rotate the cuts in power supplies around the city and inform consumers about the timings.
Weather experts predict the monsoon will hit the city on Sunday, a week behind schedule. People are keeping their fingers crossed.
Print Article 
Email Article 
