Srinagar, July 30 -- By Muzamil Farooq

One phrase always seems to outrun the floodwater: aekhir zamaan, the end times.

A cloudburst rips through a mountain village, the Jhelum swells, and within minutes the disaster gets folded into an old script on WhatsApp forwards and mosque loudspeakers.

Many people see the 2014 floods, the flash floods that now hit more often, and the heavy, muggy summers in a valley once known for its gentle weather as signs that the Hour is near.

There's something comforting about that story, and that's exactly the problem.

Call a flood a cosmic signal and it demands awe rather than action. Nobody dredged a wetland, built on a floodplain, or paved over the city's natural drainage.

Blame the apocalypse and you...