Mohali, July 1 -- It is 2.30 am on a sweltering summer night. Ordinarily, most residents would be fast asleep in the comfort of their air-conditioned rooms. Except they are not. An infant's cries can be heard somewhere in the streets. The child's hapless parents are prancing around, hoping a faint breeze will offer some relief. Across the neighbourhood, families drag charpoys outdoors, senior citizens sit awake in the darkness, and children struggle to sleep as temperatures hover near 40degC and humidity refuses to relent. For thousands of residents across Mohali district, this has become the new normal.

Unplanned and prolonged power cuts over the past several days have hit Kurali, Kharar, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and New Chandigarh, disrupt...