SIALKOT - Amidst prolonged loadshedding, two senior citizens died of scorching heat in Sialkot district as the mercury shot up to 40 degrees Celsius here on Tuesday.
Reportedly, Muhammad Din,78, in village Motra of Daska and an unknown old man at Lorry Adda Sialkot died because of sizzling summer temperature.
All the roads, streets, bazaars and markets wore a deserted look and people preferably stayed indoor to avert sun strokes. Meanwhile, the people in Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial, Pasrur, Satrah, Chawinda and Badiana spent the day by suffering great ordeal as they experienced 22 hours loadshedding. The Gepco has increased the duration of loadshedding from 20 to 22 hours in the scorching hot weather.
The supply of electricity remained suspended for 22 hours in the above-mentioned areas. In Daska, President Markazi Anjuman Tajran Muhammad Ashraf said that all the business, trade and civic activities remained badly paralysed, forcing the traders to go on strike.
People also suffered great ordeal and difficulties in such hot weather. The people were found cursing the government and Gepco officials in this regard.
In Sialkot, hundreds of the perturbed traders and shopkeepers took anti-power outages rally and staged a sit-in at Allama Iqbal Chowk as a protest against the stepped up load shedding. President Markazi Anjuman Tajran Sialkot Ghulam Mujtaba led the rally.
The participants were carrying banners and placards and chanting anti-government slogans. When contacted, the Gepco officials in Sialkot said that the power supply remained suspended from Islamabad.