The joy of eid-ul-fitar after a warm-weather Ramazan proved short-lived as load shedding has returned to cities and towns in the country. While the power outages are not painfully extended as before, the problem has at least started again on a daily basis.

In Peshawar city, there are a few power outage episodes a day; each episode lasts half an hour. In small towns like Hangu, the duration of blackouts is longer, ranging from one to two hours and there are four to five hours of power outages daily. To make things worse, the summer heat persists longer this year and even in end September, people keep rushing to bathrooms for a shower and have to change frequently their sweat-drenched clothes.

The persistent heat is, however, proving profitable for businesses of squashes, juices, ice cream, and cold drinks in cities. Even on the second day of eid, many ice cream and squash sellers kept their shops for the heat-weary customers.