Srinagar, July 21 -- A few hours of rain on Monday morning inundated most areas in both downtown and uptown Srinagar, causing widespread waterlogging that disrupted normal life across the city.

While the terrible waterlogging is a sad commentary on Srinagar's faulty and inefficient drainage and sewerage system, it also raises questions about the broader concept of the Smart City. Is this how smart cities are to be?

Most parts of Srinagar on Monday reminded one of Mir Taqi Mir's famous couplet: Kin neendon ab tu soti hai, ai chashm-e-girya-naak, Mizhgan to khol, shahr ko sailaab le gaya. (What kind of sleep are you enjoying, O! my grieving eye; open your lids and see, the city has been flooded).

The downpour submerged roads and led to w...