Guwahati, July 25: Come rain or shine, there is no respite for residents here.

After the showers it is now the sun which is sending people scurrying for cover. A severe heat wave has been sweeping the city for the past couple of days. The scorching sun, accompanied by high humidity levels, 73 per cent yesterday, has sapped the energy of the people.

City streets are deserted for the greater part of the day as people are loathe to move out of their offices and homes, except on urgent business. Even cinema halls, food joints (sans air-conditioners) and primary entertainment outlets are running empty.

An usher at a city movie theatre said, “Audiences have dwindled mainly because of the heat. Except the diehard movie freak or the odd man who wishes to escape the sun, no one has been visiting the halls.”

Streets which were full of mud and slush a few days ago have now turned into repositories of dust. Power cuts and irregular water supply have added to the citizens’ woes.

“It is not just the extreme climate that is bearing us down. It is the lack of proper civic amenities that has actually made lives miserable,” Lalit Kakati, a senior citizen, said.

The heat has taken a toll on the general health of people with increasing cases of diarrhoea, dysentery and viral fever. “Considering the rising mercury, we have also equipped ourselves to deal with cases of heat stroke,” P.N. Talukdar, deputy superintendent of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, said.

Not only the city, the entire region is reeling under the heat wave. Yesterday, Itanagar recorded a high of 37.5 degrees Celsius while Shillong recorded a maximum of 28 degrees Celsius.