Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Yale Climate Connections Community health care worker Noushadbi Mujawar safely evacuated everyone from Rajapur, an isolated village in India, as its streets began flooding in August 2019. Mujawar, 42, remained in the village herself even as floodwaters rose 12 feet above her house. “I moved to a nearby taller building and decided to stay,” said Mujawar, who wanted to help those villagers who stayed with their property as the floodwaters rose. “Many people stay in their homes during floods to care for their cattle, as evacuating them involves significant risks,” she said. Mujawar is one of over a million accredited social health activists, known as ASHAs, in India, one for every 1,000 people in villages and towns. ASHAs help make public health care accessible. Mujawar has tried to keep people safe during deadly floods that inundated her village in Maharashtra state in 2005, 2019, 2021, and 2024. She makes it a point to talk to every community member during any disaster to ensure their safety even as flooding deprives many of electricity, food supplies, and essentials. “This is the most dangerous moment when people are at risk of mental health issues, and most of them never seek treatment because of the taboo,” Mujawar said. Social stigma, cultural barriers, and fear of judgment often prevent people from discussing mental health issues and seeking treatment, especially in remote villages, where emotional vulnerability is seen as a weakness. ASHA workers are on the front lines of what a growing body of research indicates is India’s climate-linked mental health crisis. Over 197 million people in India suffer from mental disorders, and a government report points out that 50% of the climate flood-affected population suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Floods alone affected more than 218 million people from... |