CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Rathi, Ankita |
|---|---|
| Title | Divergent Pathways To Drought Adaptation In Rajasthan, India |
| Summary | Innovative adaptation strategies are very important because of Rajasthan’s arid climatic conditions and the recurring droughts. Two divergent initiatives towards drought adaptation: Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) – a bottom up, community driven movement which focused on reviving johads and the Mukhyamantri Jal Swawlamban Abhiyan (MJSA) – a top-down, state-led program in Rajasthan, India are examined in this thesis. Using a comparative case study approach based on secondary sources and guided by adaptive governance, resilience theory, and political ecology frameworks, the research evaluates how these initiatives differ in terms of agency, environmental governance, and resilience outcomes. The analysis finds that both initiatives improve water security and contribute to drought resilience, yet they operate through distinct governance pathways. Participatory decision making, strong local agency and adaptive capacity by empowering committees in water management are few of the things fostered by TBS’s grassroots efforts. However, the MJSA’s state-centric approach achieves rapid infrastructure development but involves limited community participation, potentially undermining long-term adaptive governance. While resilience was bolstered by both the pathways, superior adaptive capacity and participatory governance was demonstrated by the community-driven initiative. These findings underscore the importance of local agency and inclusive governance in building resilient socio-ecological systems under climate stress. Keywords: climate adaptation, droughts, environmental governance, top-down and bottom-up approaches |
| Supervisor | Weiler, Florian |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/rathi_ankita.pdf |
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