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IRM, DRR, EMR, Landscapes, Resilience, Urban resilience, Livelihoods, Social Protection, Planning, Policy, Ecosystem services, Water, Integrated water resource management
Wular, lake, Kashmir, floods, Srinagar
05 July 18
Case study
Srinagar valley is often said to be a place known to man as heaven and paradise. The September deluge in 2014, is touted as being the worst to affect Srinagar since 1902, the beautiful valley rampaged by the floods. A closer look, however, underlines Kashmir Valley’s increasing vulnerability to extreme events as its natural buffers, the extensive network of wetland ecosystems, have been rapidly destroyed and degraded.
Wetlands International South Asia
Srinagar valley is often said to be a place known to man as heaven and paradise. The September deluge in 2014, is touted as being the worst to affect Srinagar since 1902, the beautiful valley rampaged by the floods. A closer look, however, underlines Kashmir Valley’s increasing vulnerability to extreme events as its natural buffers, the extensive network of wetland ecosystems, have been rapidly destroyed and degraded.
Life in Srinagar rolled back several decades when devastating floods hit the region in the first week of September, 2014. On September 5 alone, the city received 156.7 mm of rainfall, which was nearly three times the monthly average. By September 6, River Jhelum, which cuts across Srinagar engulfed many low-lying parts. In the coming days, critical infrastructure like flood control bunds were washed away, bridges collapsed, power and communication lines snapped, roads and highways were disrupted or caved in, and hospitals flooded and without electricity. Nearly 500 lives were lost, 22,000 injured, and over 0.12 million houses damaged.