Srinagar, Aug. 8 -- In Srinagar's uptown, stormwater pumps built to keep the city dry during rains now run even in the heat of summer. They are pumping untreated sewage - faecal sludge, kitchen waste, industrial runoff - straight into the Doodh Ganga stream.

This stream is not a remote watercourse. It is a primary drinking water source for over half a million people and the lifeline of Hokersar Wetland, a Ramsar site recognised for its ecological value under international law.

Connecting stormwater pumps to sewerage lines is illegal under the Water Act of 1974, the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016, and the Wetland Rules of 2017. Yet the practice goes on.

In 2021, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the Srinagar Municipal Corp...