The News Caravan

Tag: Vulnerable

  • Rampant Dog Attacks In Kashmir Cause Alarm And Psychological Distress, Children Being The Most Vulnerable

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    by Syed Shadab Ali Gillani

    SRINAGAR: A little girl’s playful afternoon turned into a nightmare when she was viciously attacked by a group of stray dogs in the south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. In her desperate attempt to escape, she fell into the water and suffered life-threatening injuries. She was shifted to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SHMS) Hospital where she is battling for her life.

    Dr Salim Khan, the head of Community Medicine at GMC Srinagar, took to Twitter to express his sorrow regarding the recent dog attack. He wrote, “Another dog-bite victim, a 7-year-old girl from Kulgam under intensive care at Children Hospital Srinagar, having septicemia as she fell in water while running away from attacking stray dogs.”

    The alarming rate at which the dog population is increasing in Kashmir has resulted in frequent incidents of dog bites and attacks. Over the past few years, a large number of such incidents have occurred, with children under 10 years of age being the most vulnerable group. As a result, there has been a significant increase in anxiety disorders among children, which has had a direct or indirect impact on the quality of life of the Kashmiri population.

    According to the records from SMHS in Srinagar, an average of 30 to 35 cases of dog bites are reported daily to the anti-rabies center. Shockingly, the Kashmir valley recorded a staggering 6,800 animal bite cases between April 1 last year to March 31, with more than 80% of them being caused by stray dogs. This is the highest number in the past three years, and it has raised concerns among experts who question the delay in completing the much-awaited animal birth control (ABC) centers in Srinagar city.

    The Anti-Rabies Clinic at Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar’s SMHS, has treated 6,855 animal bite cases from across the valley during this period, with 4,912 of them being reported from the city alone. The number of cases in 2021-22 was 5,629, and it was 4,798 in 2020-21. Over the past six years, there have been 37,467 animal bite cases in the Kashmir valley, with 72% or 26,742 cases occurring in Srinagar alone.

    Speaking to Hindustan Times, Dr. Mohammad Salim Khan revealed that out of the 6,855 animal bite cases treated at SMHS; approximately 5,700 of them were caused by dogs. Recent data from the Anti-Rabies Clinic at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital indicates that from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, there were 4,695 dog bite cases in Kashmir. Srinagar alone reported 2,890 cases from January to December, with Ganderbal district reporting 269 cases, Budgam 218, Baramulla 131, Bandipora 126, Kulgam 10, Pulwama 106, Shopian 107, Kupwara 64, and Anantnag 43.

    According to a recent study conducted by the Department of Community Medicine GMC Srinagar, dog-bite victims in Kashmir are not only physically injured but also suffer from profound psychological and emotional instability. Many of them experience depression, feelings of defeat, and social disgrace. The study, titled ‘The Lived-In Experience and Psychological Recount of Dog Bite Victims Visiting the Anti-Rabies Clinic in Kashmir: A Qualitative Study,’ sheds light on the emotional toll of dog attacks on victims.

    The study aims to draw the attention of policymakers and planners towards the importance of implementing low-cost mass dog vaccination programs in order to reduce the incidence of dog bites and prevent the psychological distress faced by the victims.

    The study further states that there is a need to pay attention to the dog bite victims’ lived experience, and health care professionals need to support them through education, and counselling. “The policymakers should devise other supportive programs to minimize the psychological trauma caused by the dog bites, apart from enhancing measures towards elimination of dog mediated human rabies,” States study.

    Srinagar Municipal Corporation’s Veterinary Officer, Dr Tawheed, said, “We have to function according to the law. We cannot kill dogs nor can we shift them from one place to another. We are following the Animal Birth Control and Anti-rabies Vaccination Programme (ABC&ARV), under which we are sterilizing stray dogs and giving them anti-rabies vaccines as well.”

    The sterilization facility at Shuhama, which is running in collaboration with Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology (SKUAST), is functional. “We are performing 10-12 sterilizations a day at the Shuhama centre, and our second ABC centre in Srinagar at Tengpora, with more than 200 kennel capacity, is also completed and will be operational soon. Our ABC centre at Chattarhama is also under construction,” said Tawheed.

    He further remarked that those involved in the meat and poultry industry engage in irresponsible disposal of waste, despite the fact that SMC offers free waste management services.

    The alarming increase in dog bites and attacks in Kashmir has become a major concern for the local population, especially children who are the most vulnerable group. The emotional and psychological distress experienced by dog-bite victims has highlighted the need for policymakers to implement low-cost mass dog vaccination programs and supportive programs for victims. While the Srinagar Municipal Corporation has initiated an Animal Birth Control and Anti-rabies Vaccination Programme, it is imperative to promote responsible waste disposal practices and create awareness among the public to ensure the safety and well-being of the Kashmiri population.

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    #Rampant #Dog #Attacks #Kashmir #Alarm #Psychological #Distress #Children #Vulnerable

    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • Himalayan region including J&K vulnerable to earthquakes: Experts

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    Srinagar, Mar 22: Stating that Jammu & Kashmir among many areas are highly vulnerable to earthquakes, the experts here on Wednesday said that instead of panicking, there is a need to come up with earthquake resistant human infrastructure that leads to the loss of lives and damage to the properties.

    Pertinently, an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale occurred on late Tuesday night in Jammu and Kashmir, triggering panic among the people.

    Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), a prominent Seismologist, Prof. Ghulam Jeelani (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir), said that nobody can prevent earthquakes anywhere across the globe as it is a natural phenomenon, which would continue to take place.

    “J&K being one among the regions that are highly vulnerable to the earthquakes would witness jolts again and again. Whenever the stress accumulates, the energy gets generated and thus gets released in the shape of earthquakes,” he said.

    He added that no one can stop the occurrence of earthquakes, but there is a need to come up with the human infrastructure, which is earthquake resistant. “It is a fact that no one loses life due to earthquakes, but it is the human infrastructure that leads to the loss of lives as well as the property damage. Once people opt for taking all preventive measures while constructing their buildings, such incidents will also stop,” he said.

    However, he said that there is a need to follow dos and don’ts in spirit during earthquakes to ensure safety.

    As per the reports, around 60 earthquakes will hit J&K and Ladakh in 2022. The National Center for Seismology (NCS) data shows that J&K parts have felt tremors 9 times in March, 2023 so far.

    Prof Shakil Romshoo, an earth scientist, told KNO that the entire Himalayan region, including Jammu and Kashmir has been historically vulnerable to earthquakes.

    He said that the region has witnessed several mega earthquakes in the past. “Therefore, the government, civil societal and individuals should work hard to build a culture of disaster preparedness in the society in order to minimise human and infrastructure damage in the eventually of a high magnitude earthquake,” he said—(KNO)

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    #Himalayan #region #including #vulnerable #earthquakes #Experts

    ( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

  • A Vulnerable Trump, With Real Support for DeSantis in New Grassroots Survey

    A Vulnerable Trump, With Real Support for DeSantis in New Grassroots Survey

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    It’s still early in the campaign, and many respondents are not yet committed to a presidential candidate. But the survey results are a potentially ominous sign for Trump as he seeks to claw his way back to the White House in the face of resistance from key party actors.

    County chairs are a group whose opinions are worth gauging. County chairs are far more politically attentive and committed to their party than average American voters; they’re going to show up at the polls on primary day. They’re both activists and prominent local figures in the party, who are likely to help influence how others view the 2024 contenders. At the same time, county chairs are a bit removed from the top levels of leadership — they’re not party elites at the national or even state level. They’re still part of the grassroots. County chairs are the kind of people that successful candidates want on their side during the “invisible primary,” when fundraising and endorsements and polling start to matter.

    A note about methodology. In my capacity as director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver, I sent this survey out to nearly 3,000 Republican Party chairs — for every county in the country — and ultimately 187 responded. It’s fewer than I would have liked, but it’s certainly enough to conduct a statistically useful analysis. There’s no obvious bias embedded within the survey that I can find; respondents hailed from every region of the country, from Florida to North Dakota to Rhode Island; 91 percent described themselves as “conservative” or “very conservative.”

    For this survey, I asked county chairs about their candidate preferences in a few different ways. For a first cut, I asked if they’re committed to supporting a particular candidate in the presidential race at this point. Just about half reported that they are currently uncommitted to a candidate. Among those who said they had made a choice, 19 percent said DeSantis, the Florida governor, and 17 percent said Trump.

    This in itself is quite telling. Trump’s grip on the Republican Party was once legendary, and he is one of only two GOP candidates who has officially announced for president for 2024, the other being former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. The former president certainly may end up the Republican nominee again, and his attacks on DeSantis have only begun. But the fact that Trump is not the first choice of this group and that fewer than one in five county chairs is committed to him suggests some considerable reservations.

    I provided anonymity to respondents, but some allowed me to give their names and comments. One was Kylie Crosskno, chair of the Republican Party of Mississippi County, Ark., who remarked, “While I don’t live in Florida, I support the conservative actions that Mr. DeSantis has taken. He is not afraid to stand up for the principles and values of the Republican Party.”

    I then sought to determine a somewhat softer level of candidate interest, and the results of this question were even worse for Trump. I asked these chairs what candidates they are considering supporting at this point. I permitted them to provide as many candidate names as they wanted, and most named more than one. (The percentages in the chart below thus add up to well over 100 percent.)

    Among all the candidates named, DeSantis was the one who is receiving the most widespread consideration — mentioned by 73 percent of the county chairs. Trump was a rather distant second, mentioned by 43 percent. Indeed, Trump was mentioned just a bit more than Haley, who was named by 36 percent, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who was at 28 percent.

    Again, this question does not imply any strong degree of commitment to the candidates. But it does point to who these local party leaders are thinking about at this early stage, and DeSantis easily takes the broadest swath of respondents.

    The third approach I took to asking about candidate interest may be most revealing: I asked which candidate the county party chairs definitely did not want to see as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

    The candidate who was rejected outright by the most county chairs was former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; 55 percent of chairs didn’t want him. He was followed by Donald Trump Jr. (51 percent), former Vice President Mike Pence (43 percent), and then, rather stunningly, by Trump himself, named by 39 percent of chairs. That is, four in 10 county chairs do not want Trump to be the party’s next nominee. By contrast, just nine percent of county chairs have ruled out DeSantis, the best showing of any of the contenders.

    The degree of disinterest in Trump is rather striking. In some ways, this looks similar to the GOP presidential contest of 2015-16, with a lot of resistance to Trump but still a path for his nomination. Trump had a low polling ceiling where support maxed out, but a high floor with a core group of unwavering supporters. In a crowded race, the opposition splintered, allowing Trump to eke out a win with a plurality of the vote. He may be counting on that scenario again, and the results of the survey do not rule that out. However, the survey does highlight one difference between now and 2016, which is that back then, opposition to Trump was spread out among a number of different candidates. Today, it seems much more concentrated behind DeSantis.

    The numbers show DeSantis is in a strong position at the start of the race and before he even formally launches his all-but-certain presidential bid. In the fight to be the Trump alternative, at least by this measure, he is indisputably the frontrunner. (For Christie, things look rather grim.)

    Still, the campaign has only just begun. I’ll be checking in with these key party leaders throughout 2023 and early 2024 to see how their minds are changing and where the race is really heading.

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    #Vulnerable #Trump #Real #Support #DeSantis #Grassroots #Survey
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )