Kashmir is building at a remarkable pace. Roads are getting wider, tunnels are opening new routes, bridges are appearing in remote areas and government departments are announcing one major project after another.
The scale of spending suggests a region being prepared for a new economic future. But the harder question is whether people trust these projects to work.
That trust has little to do with the size of a bridge or the cost of a road. It grows when a drainage system keeps a neighbourhood dry during heavy rain, when a newly built road survives its first difficult season, when a public hospital has the staff and equipment promised on paper, and when officials explain delays instead of leaving citizens to guess.
Recent events have made this distinction clear. Srinagar has repeatedly faced flooding after heavy rainfall, exposing problems in drainage, construction and urban planning. The crisis has revived questions about wetlands, encroachments and the use of public money on infrastructure that often struggles when the weather turns severe.
Climate science makes the problem more serious. Kashmir is experiencing warmer temperatures, changing snowfall patterns and increasingly erratic rainfall. Infrastructure designed around older weather trends can quickly become expensive infrastructure with limited public value.
Engineers can build stronger roads and drainage channels, but planners also have to account for how the region’s climate is changing.
The same principle applies to projects beyond Srinagar.
Kashmiri people have seen roads repaired several times, government buildings completed without enough services and schemes announced with ambitious deadlines that later change. Such experiences influence how citizens judge the next announcement. A new project begins with the history of the previous one.
Kashmir has an old cultural memory of public works. Bridges, springs, roads and water channels were once closely tied to village life, maintained because communities understood their direct value.
That relationship has weakened as infrastructure has become increasingly dependent on departments, contractors and distant decision-making.
The answer is greater public accountability.
Every major project should have a clear completion date, a named agency responsible for maintenance, regular disclosure of spending and a simple public record showing what was promised and what was delivered.
Citizens should not have to depend on rumours or repeated visits to government offices to understand the status of a public project.
Such transparency would strengthen infrastructure itself because public scrutiny can expose weak planning before problems become expensive failures.
Kashmir does not lack engineers, money or ambitious plans. Its larger challenge is making public investment dependable enough for people to believe in it.
A bridge connects two places, but a reliable public institution connects citizens with the state.
Kashmir has built plenty of the first. It should now concentrate on building more of the second.
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