The writer is a freelance columnist. As floods in Punjab and Azad Jammu & Kashmir for the fourth consecutive year leave behind harrowing tales of loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, livestock, property and cash crops, the debate amongst academics has veered towards a narrative that increasingly questions the utility and usefulness of dams and barrages. As the Multi-Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) gets underway in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the…