Srinagar, Sept. 4 -- By Haris Mashooq Zia

By early morning, the floors of a Kashmiri home have usually been swept clean. The idea is taught early: "An-nazafatu minal-iman", cleanliness is half of faith.

Parents repeat it to their children, schools put it on walls, and families follow it in their daily routines.

But step past that same doorstep and the picture changes completely.

The Jhelum carries a visible skin of plastic. Mountain springs that once ran clear now mix with sewage. Bicycles installed under Srinagar's Smart City program sit stripped of parts or abandoned in ditches. Advertising boards, put up without permission, block the view of the Zabarwan range. Public walls wear stains of garbage like a second coat of paint.

The c...