Heat waves affect electricity and water supply in Jammu

Electricity and water crisis worsened in Jammu as the intense heat wave conditions continued to prevail with maximum temperature hitting above 40 degrees Celsius mark for the ninth day on Wednesday.

The city and its nearby areas faced power cut and water shortage for many hours.

"There is no electricity supply since last evening even after the Power Minister's order not to cut power," Vicky Mahajan, a resident of Tallab Tillo area of the city, said.

Power Minister Sunil Sharma on May 28 had instructed the department that no planned shutdown would be allowed in the region till further orders.

"It is a crude joke. We were forced to spend sleepless nights in open due to power breakdown last night," Sanjay Shan of Dokh Paloura locality said, adding the area also faced acute water shortage.

Arun Kumar, a Public Health Engineering (PHE) department employee, admitted shortage of water and said the department had pressed into service three water tankers to cope up with the crisis.

"We have a large area in our responsibility. We prefer to send water tankers first to the areas which have no supply lines," he said.

Other parts of the city, including Toph Sherkhania, Trikuta Nagar, Narwal, Gandhi Nagar, Janipur, Bhagwati Nagar, Chhani Himmat and Durga Nagar also faced inconsistent power and water supply.

The maximum temperature in the city crossed 40 degrees Celsius mark on May 22 for the first time this summer and is on increase since then, touching 43.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the highest in the month of May over the past three years, the Met department said.

However, it dropped to 41.7 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, still 2.6 degrees Celsius above normal during this time.

The minimum temperature recorded in the winter capital was 29.1 degrees Celsius, which was 4.2 degrees above normal, the Met department said.

Katra, the famous town en route to the holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Reasi district continued to be the second hottest place in the region with a high of 38.7 degrees Celsius and a low of 27.8 degrees Celsius. 

The town recorded a maximum of 40.7 degrees Celsius yesterday.