Srinagar, July 22 -- As the situation turns dire and distressing throughout Kashmir because of the ongoing summer showers, experts say the time has come for communities to handle this crisis with tested methods that other disaster-prone countries have already put into practice.

Landslides keep burying homes in Poonch, Rajouri, and Doda, rivers keep swallowing roads and vehicles, and families keep losing everything within hours.

The valley cannot keep treating each monsoon as a fresh shock when so many nations facing similar threats have already built working systems worth studying closely.

Japan gives the clearest example of what early warning can achieve when governments and citizens trust each other.

Its rainfall and seismic sensors...