Anthropogenic causes of recent floods in Kashmir Valley: a study of 2014 flood

• Published in: SN Social Sciences 2022-08, Vol.2 (8), Article 162
• Main Author: Malik, Ishfaq Hussain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Education; Linguistics; Original Paper; Psychology; Social Sciences
• ISSN: 2662-9283; 2662-9283
• DOI: 10.1007/s43545-022-00463-z

The global processes interact to produce unanticipated hazards and an infinite number of risks. As a politically and ecologically vulnerable region in Asia, Kashmir necessitates a distinct understanding of its political and physical geography to understand its disaster risks. It experienced the worst flood in the last 100 years in the year 2014, resulting in widespread loss and damage. The current study looks at disaster management in Kashmir, with a special emphasis on the anthropogenic causes of the 2014 flood in the Valley. The data sources include both primary and secondary sources, which were analysed using Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote-sensing techniques. The primary data included the field survey and interviews of the people and experts of disaster management. The current study examines how factors such as urbanization, loss of wetlands, climate change, deforestation, encroachment and so on contributed to the worst flood in the Kashmir Valley’s history. The study concludes that the 2014 flood was the result of different anthropogenic factors that acted over the years to create the large-scale destruction, and recommends several measures like control on encroachment on the Jhelum River's banks as well as proper  development practises and construction of an alternate flood channel for the Jhelum River to control the floods in future.