Customers stand at a stall selling soft drinks Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, May 12: Temperatures in the city are touching 40°C but there are no takers for cold drinks and ice cream because they are not cool enough.

Reason: the refrigerators where these are stocked are shut down for a couple of hours everyday, thanks to the frequent power cuts. As a result, the cold drinks do not stay cold, the ice cream melts.

Owing to the double torture of soaring temperature and absence of relief-giving substances, people making a beeline to shops are also losing their cool.

“Whenever I ask for a cold drink, the shopkeepers tell me that nothing cold is available as the refrigerators were shut down by the power cut. It is infuriating,” said Shastri Nagar resident Deepak Seth.

He added: “Only chilled cold drinks can satisfy my thirst in such weather. Mild, cool drinks are no good, and juices give me no satisfaction.

“I could have ice cream as a substitute but even that is unavailable. I just lost my cool and shouted at the shopkeeper,” said Seth.

Mithilesh Ranjan, the owner of a shop at Dakbungalow roundabout, said: “The sales have gone down. Refrigerators are unable to cool the soft drinks because of the poor power condition. Bijli aati hain aur jaati hain (the power comes and goes).

“No one is buying the soft drinks because they are not chilled. Even though the temperatures are soaring, the sales are not,” rued the shopkeeper.

Ice cream, too, is melting in the absence of cooling facilities.

“We are not stocking ice cream, as frequent power cuts do not allow us to keep the refrigerators on. We get around seven to eight hours of power everyday, and even that is interrupted. So the ice cream in the refrigerator melts. Then, it is of no use to anyone,” said Prakash Singh, a shopkeeper in Gardanibagh area.

Many shopkeepers complained that the problem would not be solved unless they get continuous power supply for at least 10 hours each day.

“I just opened my shop and within an hour-and-a-half, there have been three power cuts. How do you expect us to keep soft drinks cold and ice cream frozen? It is frustrating, especially when there is a power cut during peak hours,” said another shopkeeper.

He added that he had sold only 20 bottles of cold drinks today — a negligible amount compared to the 150 bottles they usually sell in summer.

Patliputra resident Brij Mohan said: “I love a chilled soft drink on a hot summer day but its very disappointing when I don’t get one.

“By the time I buy a warm soft drink, cool it in my refrigerator and then drink it, the whole purpose is defeated,” he added.

Then, as an afterthought, he said: “The power condition in the state is pathetic, and this is a living example of it.”