Environmental justice challenges and post-flood recovery in Punjab- Pakistan: A qualitative study

Abstract

This paper adopts an environmental justice framework to explore whether existing social vulnerabilities shape the household recovery in the two most flood hit districts of the Punjab. Based on the data collected through in-depth qualitative interviews, the study revealed that distributional environmental injustices such as disproportionate burden of floods for disadvantaged households, procedural injustice viz lack of meaningful participation/involvement in flood assistance policy making and misrecognition of the needs and priorities flood affected communities and individuals significantly affected their prospects of recovery. This study suggests that impacts of exacerbating preexisting inequities can be minimized by adopting recovery approach based on the principles of environmental justice.