BERHAMPUR: Life has come to a standstill in Berhampur, thanks to the searing heatwave, coupled with humidity.Streets wear a deserted look. Shopowners opting for safety have downed their shutters. Attendance in offices, banks and industrial units is considerably thin.“The daytime temperature in Berhampur has been hovering around 38 to 40 degrees Celsius for the last one week. However, humidity level is on the higher side putting people to hardship. People are not accustomed to excessive atmospheric humidity,” said Siddharth Sahoo, a local.Another resident Dipti Prakash Pattnaik said: “The heat is unbearable. People are forced to stay indoors as getting exposed to sun is causing profuse sweating. It is having dehydrating effect. During peak daytime, the city is coming under near-shutdown. Most of the shops, excepting eateries, restaurants and medicine ones, remain closed. The rest begins operation after sunset.”The inflow of people to government offices, including nationalised banks, has come down.Account holders are making beeline to banks with evening banking facility. Rise in mercury level has proved to be a boon for traders dealing in specific goods. Sale of electronic gadgets like air conditioners and refrigerators, apart from cool drinks and juices is brisk.The scarcity of drinking water has compounded people’s woes.For a population of over four lakh and a demand of around 50 million litre per day (MLD), urban water supply department supplies only 37 MLD from all sources. During peak summer, water supply is further reduced, leading to a crisis situation.The problem has aggravated as at least 30 areas of the town are yet to be supplied pipe water. The people of these “uncovered” new town areas are seen going about 4 to 5 km to fetch a bucket of water. Even as the PHED has pressed 29 tankers to supply water to the city, these have been of little help.Besides, although the administration had opened water kiosks in various parts of the city, these remain empty most of the time.
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