Abstract
Social vulnerability is one of the main elements that determine the coping capacity to climate variability and natural disasters, and identification of responsive populations and factors that weigh in to magnify the vulnerability is crucial for effective disaster risk reduction. Here, we investigated the relationship between socioeconomic status and the vulnerability of households and communities to natural disasters in the Sindh Basin of Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH). In this study, 13 main villages of the Sindh basin were randomly selected for the survey. The survey was conducted between November 2017 and May 2019, and 650 household residents (~30% of households in each village) were interviewed. Our research found that the families living below poverty line experience frequent disasters with losses higher than the households living above poverty line. The results show that there is a link between economic status, disaster damage, and vulnerability. The findings have the potential to assist disaster risk managers and policymakers in the formulation of more efficacious and terrain-targeted disaster management policies and ensure the sustainable human development of the region.
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Acknowledgments
The research work was conducted as part of a research project titled “Anthropogenic Impacts and Their Management Options in Different Ecosystems of the Indian Himalayan Region,” sponsored and funded by National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) under the aegis of Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFandCC), Govt. of India, New Delhi, is thankfully acknowledged. The authors also thank Director Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE), Kosi-Katarmal, Almora-263 643, Uttarakhand, India as well as the Department of Environmental Science, University of Kashmir for providing facilities, which together could make the present study possible.
Author Contributions
Mohd Sharjeel Sofi: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft, Visualisation.
Sami Ullah Bhat: Writing, Review and editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition.
Irfan Rashid: Writing, Review and editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition.
Jagdish Chandra Kuniyal: Review and editing, Funding acquisition.
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available within the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Funding
This study was funded by National Mission on Himalayan Studies Implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF and CC) Govt. of India, under Grant number NMHS/SG/-2017/260.
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Sofi, M.S., Bhat, S.U., Rashid, I., Kuniyal, J.C. (2023). Socioeconomic Aspect of Disaster Risk in Kashmir: Contextualizing Village Vulnerability in Sindh Basin. In: Sharma, S., Kuniyal, J.C., Chand, P., Singh, P. (eds) Climate Change Adaptation, Risk Management and Sustainable Practices in the Himalaya. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24659-3_9
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