Srinagar, June 18 -- The discomfort started as a dull pressure under his ribs.

Shakeel Ahmad, a 38-year-old schoolteacher from Baramulla, thought it was just indigestion. He kept teaching. The pain got worse.

By the time his family reached the hospital in Srinagar, doctors said they were already two hours late.

"He kept saying it wasn't his heart," said Shakeel's widow. "But in the end, his heart was what failed him, and us."

Heart disease is fast emerging as one of the deadliest public health threats in Kashmir. Despite its growing toll, the silent killer remains largely overlooked in a region already burdened by unpredictable weather and prolonged uncertainty.

Doctors in Srinagar and public health officials across the Valley say th...