Srinagar, July 11 -- Forests are disappearing beneath concrete, classrooms are packed beyond capacity, and unemployed youth are losing hope. Population pressure is no longer a distant concern in Kashmir. It is already shaping the present.

The world first paused to consider this pressure on July 11, 1987, when the global population hit five billion - a moment the United Nations later marked by creating World Population Day.

Now, in July 2025, with more than 8.23 billion people on Earth, that early warning has grown harder to ignore.

This isn't just about numbers. It's about what those numbers demand from land, water, jobs, and already strained communities like Kashmir.

Across South Asia, the fastest-growing populations are colliding wi...