Kashmir Floods 2014 Recovery to Resilience

The flood of 2014 in the Kashmir Valley was the worst flood in the last hundred year. The unprecedentedrainfall was apparently the immediate cause of flooding in the Kashmir valley. However, it was aggravated by many other factors, for example, rapid urbanization, development activities like construction of railway line across the valley, poor management of flood spill channel, encroachment of wetlands and land adjoining river banks, the disappearance of wetlands, etc. These factors contributed towards blocking of the natural drainage patterns and increased the severity of the flood.

The flood caused 287 deaths, adversely affected around two million people. It paralyzed Srinagar city for several days. Central government, several States/UTs came forward to help the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The documentation of 2014 Kashmir flood has drawn lessons for future course of action and for managing similar events in a well-coordinated manner.

This document has also suggested long-term measures that should be taken for building resilience. It is expected that this work will help other States/UTs in planning the flood preparedness, response and rehabilitation efforts in a well-coordinated manner by following the principle of Building Back Better. The study will also help in bringing much needed awareness among vulnerable population of the UT of Jammu & Kashmir, and the administration will get benefitted in terms of analysing strengths weaknesses, threats and opportunities for managing disaster events in a holistic manner.