Srinagar, July 14 -- This summer, Kashmir's waters aren't just flowing, they're claiming lives. Once symbols of beauty and calm, they've become sites of tragedy, as drowning deaths rise and joy turns to grief.

A recent picnic near Boniyar in north Kashmir ended in the deaths of three people, including two teenagers, who slipped into the canal at the Lower Jhelum Hydroelectric Project.

They had come for a simple outing and never returned home.

Their families now speak of them in past tense, holding on to photos instead of hands.

It's not a one-off.

Every few days, another drowning is reported, in Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara, or farther south in Anantnag and Pulwama.

Boys swimming in the Jhelum, families gathering near waterfalls, and ...