Toward a Contextualised Approach to Urban Pluvial Flooding and Mental Health in India: Bridging the Gap and Future Directions

The systematic approach and conceptualisation strategy used by Singh et al. can be considered informative regarding the current debate on the issue of urban flood risk in India. Their discussion is justifiable on the infrastructural, economic and environmental impacts of flooding, such as waterlogging and loss of livelihood. They further emphasise the need to mitigate them by planning, early warning mechanisms, and robust built-in infrastructure. Nevertheless, there is one important aspect that has not been fully regarded, and this is the psychological and psychosocial impact of urban floods. Floods are not only physical catastrophes, but they also cause severe emotional and psychological impact. Trauma, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other mental health issues in the long term can be caused by displacement, loss, and prolonged uncertainty (Carias et al., 2022; Asante et al., 2024). These are some of the effects that are not seen in the short run, and these greatly influence the recovery of individuals and communities. Though a brief recognition of psychosocial issues is made in the paper, very little discussion is made. Such omission is notable particularly at a time when the world has looked up to international frameworks like the Sendai Framework and WHO guidelines that underline the importance of mental health in responding to disasters. The presence of mental health, psychological first aid and community counselling in global disaster recovery efforts, such as the 2011 Japan tsunami and 2017 Texas floods, shows that the combination of these methods improves recovery. The real resilience in Indian cities should then not just be confined to physical recovery, but also incorporate emotional and social recovery, thereby making mental health the heart of the flood risk reduction.