The longest day of the year, today

High temperatures were reported all around the country on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year on Monday.

The extreme heat waves brought along with this day also resulted in the deaths of nine people in the last 24 hours.

The Summer Solstice

On the Summer Solstice, the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere and this is the day with the longest period of daylight.

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year. It occurs when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is most inclined towards the Sun.

Different cultures across the globe worship and celebrate the period around the Summer Solstice since it is considered to be a symbol of new life and a time for rituals.

High temperatures around the country

Hot and dry weather has been forecasted for the next couple of days, while the country witnessed extremely hot weather in the month of May when the temperature touched 47 degree celsius in Lahore.

The country has now been hit by a second heat wave, with scorching temperatures before the onset of monsoons in the first week of July.

Loadshedding adds to the woes

Due to the rising temperature, unscheduled loadshedding has once again started in Faisalabad. This is in violation of the government’s announcement and agreements made with trade leaders.

Industrialists and trade leaders have protested over the unscheduled power cuts and demanded the government take action against FESCO authorities.

Eight districts of Faisalabad are experiencing power cuts from 6 to 12 hours.  The industrial sector is experiencing loadshedding for six hours instead of the announced four hours.

FESCO officials have confirmed that against a demand of 1600 megawatt, supply has been reduced to 1000 megawatts.

Faislabad Traders Alliance President, Shahid Razaq also threatened to withdraw the support of the energy conservation plan if the duration of power cuts is not reduced.