Ludhiana: Riot police were deployed to a major national highway on Saturday after furious residents blocked traffic for two hours to protest against a prolonged municipal water and power failure that has left thousands without drinking water during a severe heatwave.The escalating gridlock in Punjab’s largest industrial hub underscores how crumbling civic infrastructure and a lack of inter-agency coordination are fuelling public unrest as temperatures soar across the region.Dozens of women, many holding infants, sat across the highway near Tibba Road to block vehicle movement, forcing police to divert traffic. The gridlock temporarily trapped an emergency fire brigade vehicle before officers cleared a path through the crowd.Residents of Jai Shakti Nagar said their neighbourhood had faced acute water shortages for two weeks, and it had worsened over the past seven days. Families reported being forced to purchase bottled water for survival, with some struggling even to cook meals.“Even drinking water is not reaching our homes,” resident Rohit Arora said. “Children, the elderly, and women are suffering badly in this intense heat.”Protesters expressed outrage that local officials, including the legislator and the mayor, reside nearby yet have ignored repeated complaints. A previous demonstration outside the local municipal office earlier this week failed to yield results, prompting residents to escalate their protest to the national highway.Municipal corporation’s subdivisional officer (SDO) Amritpal Singh acknowledged the crisis but attributed it entirely to the power utility. He stated that unscheduled electricity blackouts clashed consistently with scheduled water-pumping hours.To resolve the impasse, senior municipal officials are now formally requesting that the state power corporation exempt water-pumping stations from electricity cuts during distribution windows.The blockade attracted political figures, including former lawmaker Sanjay Talwar, who joined the demonstration and accused the current administration of failing to provide basic public necessities.The protest dissolved after municipal engineers arrived on the site and formally assured residents that water services would be restored immediately. However, community leaders warned the officials that they would launch an intensified agitation if the supply failed again.
