Srinagar, Sept. 25 -- The chinar leaf falls in a particular fashion, spinning once before it settles, and by late September the pavements of Srinagar are covered with them, red and brown and curling at the edges.

This has been the visual signature of Kashmiri autumn for generations. Now it comes with a smell that has nothing to do with the season.

Walk through any mohalla between October and December and the smoke finds you before the leaves do, rising from small piles set alight by sweepers, orchardists, and ordinary residents who have never been told, or never believed, that this habit is killing them.

Last winter, the Air Quality Index in Srinagar and Baramulla crossed 250, a level at which breathing the outside air does measurable ...