Kashmir's Low AQI Has a Local Source

As air quality slips into the poor range, a long-accepted household practice is silently adding to Kashmir's health burden.

- Aaqyb Ashraf

On a cold morning in Srinagar, smoke rises from behind a row of houses near the Jhelum. A pile of dry chinar leaves burns in a courtyard, a plastic bag tossed in along the way, popping as it melts. The smoke drifts through narrow lanes and seeps into nearby homes.

This scene repeats every winter across Kashmir. Most people barely notice anymore.

Burning leaves and household waste has long felt ordinary. It was how courtyards were cleared, lanes were cleaned, and households managed what they could not store or collect.

When formal waste systems were scarce, fire became the easiest solution. Many still see it that way: sweep, pile, burn, move on.

The problem is that Kashmir has changed, but this habit has not.

Municipal waste vans now come through most neighbourhoods in Srinagar. In many villages, panchayat-level collection systems operate on fixed days. People know this. They wait for the vans, hand over bags, and complain when a pickup is missed.

Still, the fires continue. Smoke rises even on days when collection vehicles are expected. The question is no longer about lack of options. It is about why people keep choosing fire when other choices exist.

When you ask, the answers are familiar, Waste cannot be stored for days, some say. Dry leaves are natural, others insist, so they must be harmless.

These explanations make sense if you remember how long burning was the only way out. Habits formed under pressure tend to survive long after the pressure eases.

What rarely enters these conversations is what the smoke actually does.