Impact of River's Health on Public Health: A Study of Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Project

Abstract

The study primarily examined the impacts of river's functional health on public health issues faced by people of Muzaffarabad due to construction of Neelum Jhelum hydropower project. Functional health of river means social services that a river body provides to support and sustain the livelihoods of people. Using the quantitative methodology survey was conducted with 370 household heads using the structured interview schedule. Systematic random sampling was used for selection of households. The prevalent methods of open dumping and other inadequate solid waste disposal routines pose significant threats to human well-being.it was found that different variables of river health and public health have moderate to weak relationships with each other. Indicators of river quality are linked to a wide variety of health issues such as respiratory conditions (asthma), viral conditions (dengue, typhoid) gastrointestinal conditions (including constipation, diarrhea, and ulcers), hair loss, allergies, and renal diseases in weak or moderate ways.