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Risk assessment is imperative for disaster risk reduction. The risk is rooted to various physical, social, economic, demographic and environmental factors that determine the probable magnitude of loss during an extreme event. By way of bringing a conceptual model into practice, this paper aims to examine the flood risk of the Srinagar city.

The “risk triangle” model has been adopted in the present investigation evaluating parameters, reflective of hazard (intensity), exposure (spatial) and vulnerability (sensitivity) using Landsat-8 operational land imager scene (10 September 2014), global positioning system, Cartosat-1 digital elevation model and socioeconomic and demographic data (Census of India, 2011). The authors characterise flood hazard intensity on the basis of variability in water depth during a recent event (September 2014 Kashmir flood); spatial exposure as a function of terrain elevation; and socioeconomic structure and demographic composition of each municipal ward of the city as a determinant factor of the vulnerability. Statistical evaluation and geographic information system-based systematic integration of all the multi-resolution data layers helped to develop composite flood risk score of each ward of the city.

Principal deliverable of this study is flood risk map of the Srinagar city. The results reveal that approximately 46 per cent of the city comprising 33 municipal wards is at high risk, while rest of the area, i.e. 17 and 37 per cent, exhibit moderate and low levels of risk, constituting 23 and 12 municipal wards, respectively. It is very likely that the municipal wards expressing high risk may witness comparatively more damage (impact) during any future flood event. Thus, there is a need of planned interventions (structural and non-structural) to minimise the emergent risk.

Very rare attempts have been made to bring theoretical models of disaster research in practice; this is mainly because of the complexities associated with the data (selection, availability and subjectivity), methodology (integration, quantification) and resolution (spatial scales). In this direction, this work is expected to have considerable impact, as it provides a clear foundation to overcome such issues for the studies aiming at disaster risk assessment. Furthermore, using varied primary and secondary data, this paper demonstrates the relative (municipal wards) flood risk status of the Srinagar city, which is one of the key aspects for flood hazard mitigation.

This paper aims to analyse the changes in the extent of the green space in the city of Srinagar, a unique urban Himalayan destination, and examine whether the difference in the green space has a significant effect on the destination business performance measured in terms of loss of ecological attractiveness.

This study was carried out in two phases in the study area. In phase I, the changes in the extent of the green space area were analysed using Landsat TM and Sentinel Images for classification. The study has used the period from 2001 to 2018 to understand changes in the green space. The Post-Classification Comparison technique was used to investigate the variation in the green space zones in the city of Srinagar. In phase II, the paper evaluated the impact of change in the green space on the destination business performance. The data was collected from the tour operation companies through a questionnaire survey, and the impact path was examined using structural equation modelling.

Results reveal that the green space in the city of Srinagar has decreased over the past 18 years, and the decreasing green space has a significant effect on the destination business performance.

Identifying the impact of decreasing green space on the destination business performance of the study area under investigation is essential for tourism development both in terms of new product development and resource preservation. Developing a measurement scale showing the impact of decreasing green space on destination business performance could offer destination managers a means of identifying the essence of the green space in the destination regions. These findings add to the growing literature on the attributes of tourism destinations, providing scholars with new insights into the role of green space in destination performance. The current study offers evidence of the impact of decreasing green space on the destination's performance. This provides a new perspective for future studies on visitor satisfaction as a potential mediator of the relationship between reducing greenspace and destination business performance. The main limitation of this study is that the researchers have only analysed the impact of decreasing green space on the destination business performance in terms of its ecological competitiveness. Other destinations business performance verticals, such as hotels, restaurants and grocery stores were not considered by this study and can be taken up for future investigation.

This study provides empirical insights that can have significant implications for researchers, policymakers, destination management organizations, academia and practitioners and further enrich the existing literature by establishing an empirical argument in the context of urban destinations positioned with a fragile Himalayan ecosystem.

This study aims to assist the urban administrators in improving the green space ecosystem in the region, which can help attain the sustainability of the city environment and assist in economic regeneration in urban settings.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of destination image on satisfaction level and tourist loyalty toward the various tourist destinations in Jammu and Kashmir. The study, also, attempted to investigate the mediating role of satisfaction and moderating role of gender, past experience and tourist origin in the proposed model.

The study was carried out in the state of Jammu and Kashmir spread over three divisions, i.e., Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The study employs questionnaire survey method for data collection. Purposive sampling was adopted for data collection and data analysis was carried out through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques.

The study has found that cognitive image, affective image and unique image are the significant dimensions of destination image, which in turn has a positive effect on satisfaction level and tourist loyalty. It was also found that destination image has both direct and indirect effect on tourist loyalty.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been badly affected by ongoing political instability, which has caused huge losses to the tourism industry. The results of the study will be helpful to policymakers in designing various strategies and programs for maximizing tourist inflow and growth of tourism industry in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Further, finding of the study will assist destination managers in understanding consumer behavior for promoting destination shopping activities. This will enhance tourist expenditure at destinations and thus provides direct benefits to the local economy.

Very little research has been conducted on moderating role of gender, past experience and tourist origin in the destination image and its association with satisfaction and tourist loyalty in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Managing destination image and quality of tourist experience are critical to induce favorable expectations of destination in the tourist’s mind.

The study is an endeavour to find out the preservation status of rare documents in Srinagar. The rare documents, here, mean the manuscripts and rare books, journals, reports, magazines, archival documents, etc. These resources are available in private libraries of individuals and religious institutions in Srinagar. This study aims to find these private libraries of individuals/families and religious institutions, which are unknown to the scholarly world and observe the preservation status of rare documents. The main focus is to document their present preservation status to give an opportunity to the stakeholders, particularly the government organizations, to take appropriate action before they are lost forever.

Before conducting the survey, the investigator interviewed 114 persons including literary persons, faith leaders, librarians, faculty members from various prominent institutions in Srinagar to get leads regarding the persons/families and religious institutions in possession of rare documents. The investigator gathered data through two different schedules and later analyzed the same in this study after carrying out a pilot study to make necessary changes to the schedules compiled for the study. The investigator visited personally each family/individual and religious institution to gather the data for months together.

An arduous job was carried out in which around 111 individuals/families and religious institutions were found to be having such rare resources. However, the data gathered reveals a dismal picture of private libraries and religious institutions, in possession of rare documents, as almost all caretakers/ families are devoid of any knowledge regarding the maintenance of these important sources of knowledge. Further, the traditional methods of preservation are still in vogue in some private libraries. These traditional methods have opened new areas of research while at the same time can prove detrimental to the collection if they are useless.

The study is the first of its kind in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir i.e. Srinagar. The study gives an idea of preservation status of manuscripts and rare documents including books, magazines, journals, archival documents, etc. so that the same are taken care of for posterity. The study is an eye-opener for the policymakers, conservators, archivists and others interested in historical documents. The study will help in furthering the research process as it needs to be ascertained whether the traditional methods of preservation are fruitful. In short, the study is quite helpful in understanding the nature of collection in Srinagar so that appropriate steps are taken by all particularly the Government in J&K. The paper will surely help in the policy formulation in the future.

This study aims to examine the relationship between the perceptions of local residents concerning political factors and support for tourism development in the Kashmir region.

Primary data have been collected (n = 650) from the residents of the top five tourist destinations (Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Srinagar, Sonamarg and Kokernag) through a pre-tested questionnaire by multistage sampling method. In presence of non-normal data, the partial least squares structural equation model is applied for analysis. The study is based on the theoretical framework of social exchange theory (SET) and institutional theory of political trust (ITPT).

Results suggest that trust in government, the perceived economic performance of government and level of power are negative determinants of support for tourism development, which nullifies SET for politically disturbed regions.

The results of this study are useful for the local government and tourism institutions in policy formation and fill the vast gap in tourism literature with a theoretical base. This study is also an addition to the existing literature on city tourism for the politically disturbed region.

The purpose of this paper is to enlarge the current understanding of destination image in view of identified sources of risk and to investigate the mediating role of government initiatives and media influence for sustainable and secure tourism in a conflict zone. Therefore, this study develops and empirically tests an integrative model of destination image that reflects a comprehensive view of the relationships among these variables.

The study uses data collected through a self-administered survey of respondents selected through probability area sampling from the targeted sample of domestic tourists in hospitality contexts (four- and five-star hotels). The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. The scale was developed and purified through factor analysis (confirmatory factor analysis).

The results provide evidence that psychological risk and socio-cultural risk emerged as the major sources of risk followed by unrest (terrorist) and political risk which is against the predetermined notion that unrest (terrorist) risk is the major source of risk perceived by domestic tourists visiting a conflict zone. Further, the study identified that media is having comparatively higher role in influencing the perception about the sources of risk than the government initiatives in decreasing the sources of risk towards destination image and its competitiveness. Thus, the study supports the fact that for the destination image in conflict zone, performing best in the domain of control (government initiatives) yields very weak performance in the domain of concern (media).

This research contributes theoretically and empirically to the discussions on the components of the destination image in the conflict zone. Further, the study is inert in evaluating mediational role of media influence and government initiatives in the relationship between perceived risks and destination image.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the potentiality of dissonance, especially as it engaged with feminist theory to raise familiar yet pertinent questions about undertaking research in contexts riven with political and epistemic violence. Drawing on the ethnographic fieldwork in the Kashmir valley, the author tracks the work dissonance does in shaping the research questions we ask, the methodological choices we make and its insistence on embodying a critical politics of location. The author then goes on to trace how dissonance variously emerged in the field and its theoretical implications in explaining the complex processes of military occupation in the Kashmir valley and how it takes hold in everyday life. That is, everyday sense of dissonance as explicated by interviewees brings to light the functions of military occupation but more importantly, it remains imbued with possibilities that contest, challenge and refuse to normalise militarised forms of state-led oppression. Overall, this paper makes the case for remaining with dissonance as a disruptive feminist possibility with epistemic and political potential.

This paper is based on ethnographically informed fieldwork located in feminist approaches to doing qualitative research.

The author argues for engaging with experiences of dissonance during research process as productive affects that can yield politically and epistemically useful forms of analysis that contest dominant forms of thinking and knowing.

This paper builds on existing feminist thinking on dissonance to contribute to peace research and the urgent need to centre locational politics and power inequalities as we contest dominant knowledge.