Srinagar’s Smart City project is 98% done. But locals say it’s beautification without the basics

Newslaundry · Oct 6, 2026

In the second week of September, a cinema screen floated on the Dal. Srinagar was hosting the first International Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir, with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah opening it against the Zabarwan hills. It was the city’s biggest international event since the G20 tourism meeting of 2023 and, like that one, mostly an argument made in pictures.Seven weeks earlier, on July 20, an hour of rain had put the same city under water.Lal Chowk, Polo View, Residency Road, the Boulevard, Khanyar, Sada Kadal, Nalamar, Bemina, Dalgate. Water got into the Civil Secretariat, of all places…