The onslaught launched by the people of Kashmir on river Jhelum needs no explanation. From industrial effluents produced by hotels and factories to household garbage, plastics and all kinds of scrap material produced by the construction boom, everything seems to be finally finding its way into the river which is the lifeline of the agriculture-based economy of the Valley. The consequences of fiddling with nature and mistreatment of Jhelum river were there for all to see in 2014 when the fury of floods threw up into the streets and homes of Srinagar and elsewhere what the river had been forced to endure in all these years. Nearly seven years have passed since the deluge nearly wiped off Srinagar from the map but very few lessons have been learnt. Neither has the UT administration moved to save the river, nor are the people, especially those living in the river’s vicinity, empathetic to its dying state. Jhelum remains the dumping ground for all kinds of waste produced by people. Although the UT government has made considerable progress in the last months since the 2014 floods in terms of strengthening the embankments of the river to prevent another spillover and while questions remain about the efficacy of the dredging process that was undertaken by a private contractor to increase the carrying capacity of the river, there is little doubt that Jhelum is slowly and steadily being poisoned by human activity. According to official sources, the water of the river is not only unfit for consumption but it has actually turned into poison. Human faeces, dead animals, rotten food, single use plastics and all kinds of waste thrown into the river by people living along the embankments has gradually poisoned the ecosystem of the river. The saddest part of the story is that the announcements made by the then state government in the aftermath of the 2014 floods to save the river from unwanted human interference have been shelved or conveniently forgotten. This can prove disastrous for Kashmir. The government can’t afford to ignore the dying state of Jhelum. The river is the most important lifeline of Kashmir’s agriculture based economy. It also plays an important part in meeting the drinking water requirements of large number of people, especially those living in south Kashmir parts. LG Sinha administration must intervene and intervene quickly to save Jhelum from meeting an imminent death.