Research Projects

Climate change is expected to increase the risk of hydrometeorological extremes, such as floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures. Drought hazard ranks first in terms of the number of people affected due to its large spatial coverage. Drought vulnerability varies regionally, making a coherent understanding of local drought impacts essential for identifying effective preparedness and response strategies in countries like India, where a large portion of the rural population relies on agriculture. In India, drought declaration and assistance allocation are often subjective and affected by externalities. To overcome these issues, it is crucial for drought-prone areas to monitor drought and impacts through stakeholder engagement, generate scientific evidence at a larger scale, and adopt participatory drought and water scarcity disaster management at the local level. Technologies like RSGIS, such as drones, can be used to effectively measure and monitor drought impacts, including plant biomass, vegetation health, soil moisture, and other crop characteristics at different growth stages. The proposed research aims to combine physical droughts with the human livelihood dimension by posing research questions for Maharashtra State, one of India's most drought-vulnerable states. These questions include understanding historical patterns of droughts, drought impacts on agriculture, the effectiveness of adaptation and relief measures, the pragmaticity of drought declaration criteria, monitoring local crop area, production, and yield, appropriate preparedness, adaptation, and relief measures, and strengthening stakeholder roles in drought science, management, and policy for effective bottom-up drought management and resilience building.