A Preliminary Investigation into the Social Perceptions of Urban Residents Exposed to River Floods

The preliminary or pilot studies are typically understood as important elements in socio-psychological and clinical research. Unfortunately, such studies, even if well conducted and serving a good purpose, often go unmentioned in published texts. This study is a deviation from this practice, exploring the perspectives of residents exposed to flooding in Srinagar City, the largest urban center in the Himalayan region. The main purpose was to understand the underlying reasons and motivations of residents to continue living at their current places (and return), despite facing existing challenges and future uncertainties. The narrative analysis technique was applied to analyse the qualitative data obtained through recorded narrations from personal interviews. This analysis resulted in the production of in-depth descriptions across five themes: (1) sense of place, (2) understanding threat, (3) flood experience, (4) coping abilities, and (5) social cohesion. The findings revealed that the benefits of living in the current location outweigh the threats, and the residents are, to some extent, adjusted to this situation. However, this does not overshadow the fact that these residents may over or underestimate the existing or future flood risks due to a lack of consistent efforts for flood risk reduction at the local level. This preliminary study proved to be a crucial exercise for undertanding the study area and participants, testing interview guide, and providing researchers with more insights into the flooding problem in the region. This also serves as a starting point for a substantive study. The bottom line is that pilot studies should be a permanent feature of all similar or relevant studies, regardless of observed outcomes during execution.