Socio-economic and Health Impacts of Floods in a Trans-Himalayan Ecosystem

Abstract

The present study aims to explore the aftermath of the September 2014 floods in some areas of Srinagar. A questionnaire based survey was conducted in three severely impacted areas of Srinagar (Bemina, Rajbagh, Shivpora). Although there were no cases of bereavement but majority of the families suffered huge loss of economy. However, Bemina suffered from huge loss of livelihood (50%) as compared to other study areas. As the flood fury was believed to occur almost after 100 years, the pre-preparedness was not thus well executed. Post flood health problems were primarily caused due to contact with the contaminated water, growth of mould and dampness in buildings resulting in physical injuries, acute illness (gastro intestinal problems, skin infections, respiratory problems), chronic diseases (hyper tension, asthma, diabetes) and ill mental health (agitated behaviour, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, suicidal thoughts, upsetting thoughts/dreams and over smoking).