Srinagar, June 24 -- High above the Kashmir Valley, two lakes are growing.

Gangabal and Nundkol, fed by glaciers retreating faster every decade, have been swelling silently for years.

Scientists at the University of Kashmir recently published a study classifying both as highly susceptible to Glacial Lake Outburst Floods: sudden, catastrophic releases of water that can sweep away villages, bridges, and hydropower plants in a matter of hours.

Researchers calculated that a flood from Nundkol alone could put more than a thousand buildings in its path.

Below these lakes, people are living their lives in complete ignorance of all this.

Shepherds in the villages downstream say nobody from the government has come to explain the risk. Neither...