Srinagar, Dec. 8 -- Srinagar, we were repeatedly told, has been transformed into a "smart city." Ironically, it was never as congested, chaotic, or directionless as it became after that declaration. If "smartness" is measured by how many minutes it takes a common citizen to crawl through a two-kilometre patch of road, then yes, we have indeed made unprecedented progress. The city that once breathed in long, uninterrupted corridors - from Dalgate to Batamaloo, from Karan Nagar to Khanyar - now gasps for space like an asthmatic trapped in a smoke chamber.

Let us begin with the most generous assumption: that governance is driven by intention. But even under that generous assumption, Srinagar's current suffocation cannot be excused as accide...