Letter to Editor The Flood We Invited

In September 2014, Kashmir drowned. The Jhelum broke its banks, canals overflowed, and Srinagar disappeared un-

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der a sea of dirty water. Families clung to rooftops, orchards turned into swamps, bridges collapsed, and homes built over decades vanished in a matter of days.

That flood was more than a disaster. It was humiliation. And it came with a clear lesson: rivers and wetlands are not ours to choke or seize. They are lifelines. They protect us only if we protect them.

Ten years later, we seem to have forgotten. Instead of learning, we repeated the same mistakes. Instead of humility, we chose arrogance. Canals we buried, wetlands we built over, and illegal houses we allowed on flood channels were choices we made.