Srinagar, Aug. 21 -- Development in Kashmir usually starts with big promises. A new tunnel through the Pir Panjal, a road to boost tourism, or a hydropower project to fix winter blackouts is announced with excitement.

Tenders are issued, companies line up, and people begin to hope. Then, without warning, the projects disappear.

This cycle has hardened into a troubling pattern.

In recent months, the Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project, a massive 1,856 megawatt venture on the Chenab that could have transformed the region's energy security, was abruptly withdrawn just weeks after its tender was announced.

The cancellation sent a clear signal: even flagship projects are not immune to disappearing before they take shape.

The Sawalkote project...