Ludhiana: Riot police were deployed on a major national highway on Saturday after furious residents blocked traffic for two hours to protest against prolonged municipal water and power failure that has left thousands without drinking water during the scorching heat.growing standoff PunjabThe largest industrial hub highlights how crumbling civic infrastructure and a lack of inter-agency coordination are fueling public unrest as temperatures rise across the region.Dozens of women, many of them carrying children in their arms, sat across the highway near Tibba Road to block vehicular movement, forcing the police to divert traffic. An emergency fire brigade vehicle became temporarily stuck in the standoff before officers could find their way through the crowd.Residents of Jai Shakti Nagar said there was acute water shortage in their neighborhood for two weeks and it has become worse in the last seven days. Families reported being forced to buy bottled water to survive, with some even struggling to cook food.“Drinking water is not even reaching our homes,” resident Rohit Arora said. “Children, elderly and women are in bad shape in this extreme heat.”The protesters expressed anger that local officials, including the MLA and the mayor, live nearby, yet they have ignored their repeated complaints. A previous demonstration outside the local municipal office earlier this week failed to yield any results, forcing residents to extend their protest to the national highway.Municipal Corporation Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Amritpal Singh Acknowledged the crisis but held the power utility solely responsible for it. He said that unscheduled power cuts are constantly clashing with the scheduled hours of water pumping.To resolve the impasse, senior municipal corporation officials are now formally requesting that the State Electricity Corporation exempt water-pumping stations from power cuts during delivery windows.The blockade attracted political personalities including former MLA Sanjay Talwar, who joined the protest and accused the current administration of failing to provide basic public necessities.The protest ended after municipal engineers reached the spot and formally assured residents that water services would be restored immediately. However, community leaders warned the authorities that they would launch an intense agitation if the supplies failed again.