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IN PHOTOS: Rajasthan’s women turn drought into a revolution

Updated On: 25 May, 2025 04:51 PM IST | Anushree Gaikwad

Sampatti Devi, the wife of a former dacoit, works on the embankment of the pond she helped create in their village in Rajasthan's water-stressed Karauli district. In drought-hit Karauli, Rajasthan, women led a water revolution, reviving ponds and rivers, ending dacoity, restoring farming and bringing peace back to once-parched villages. (Pics/ PTI)

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01
Until about 15 years ago, Sampatti Devi and many women like her in Rajasthan's Karauli district lived in constant fear, dreading the day their husbands might not return home. Pics/PTI
Until about 15 years ago, Sampatti Devi and many women like her in Rajasthan's Karauli district lived in constant fear, dreading the day their husbands might not return home. Pics/PTI
02
Repeated droughts, driven in part by declining rainfall linked to climate change, had turned their land barren. Water sources dried up, crippling agriculture and animal husbandry, the lifeblood of their livelihood

Repeated droughts, driven in part by declining rainfall linked to climate change, had turned their land barren. Water sources dried up, crippling agriculture and animal husbandry, the lifeblood of their livelihood

03
With no other way to survive, many men were forced into dacoity, hiding in jungles and risking their lives every day to evade the police. Karauli's average annual rainfall dropped from 722.1 mm (1951-2000) to 563.94 mm (2001-2011), according to government data

With no other way to survive, many men were forced into dacoity, hiding in jungles and risking their lives every day to evade the police. Karauli's average annual rainfall dropped from 722.1 mm (1951-2000) to 563.94 mm (2001-2011), according to government data

04
In the 2010s, something extraordinary unfolded. Tired of living in constant fear and despair, the women decided it was time to take control. They persuaded their husbands to abandon the jungle, lay down their arms, and return to a life of peace

In the 2010s, something extraordinary unfolded. Tired of living in constant fear and despair, the women decided it was time to take control. They persuaded their husbands to abandon the jungle, lay down their arms, and return to a life of peace

05
Together, they began reviving old, dried-up ponds and constructing new pokhars (water bodies) with the help of Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), an Alwar-based NGO dedicated to water conservation since 1975

Together, they began reviving old, dried-up ponds and constructing new pokhars (water bodies) with the help of Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS), an Alwar-based NGO dedicated to water conservation since 1975

06
When the rains came, the pokhar filled and for the first time in years, their family had water, enough to sustain them for a longer period. Karauli, once among Rajasthan's worst-hit dacoit areas, witnessed a transformation

When the rains came, the pokhar filled and for the first time in years, their family had water, enough to sustain them for a longer period. Karauli, once among Rajasthan's worst-hit dacoit areas, witnessed a transformation

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