In Pictures: Fields turn to pits, homes to water; Rajasthan villages face monsoon’s twin blows

Relentless monsoon rains turned eastern Rajasthan’s semi-arid plains into a disaster zone. Heavy downpours, triggered by Bay of Bengal monsoon depressions, overwhelmed fragile soils and caused widespread flooding and large-scale erosion across more than 30 villages.

Jadawata: Farmland washed away

In Jadawata village, floodwaters ripped through farmland, carving deep erosion channels and leaving pits of broken soil. Once-green fields now lie barren, their topsoil gone. Two houses collapsed while others stand on unstable ground. Farming has halted, threatening local food security as the 2025 Kharif crop season is lost.

Surwal: Dam overflow submerges homes

In Surwal, waist-deep floodwater swept through homes after the Surwal Dam overflowed. Roads were cut off and entire neighborhoods submerged. Families sleep on rooftops, cook on raised platforms, and protect firewood under plastic sheets. Submerged fields have destroyed this year’s harvest.

District-wide impact

Across Sawai Madhopur, more than one lakh (100,000) people were displaced. Army, NDRF, and SDRF teams carried out boat rescues while volunteers ran community kitchens. Relief reaches Jadawata slowly as washed-out roads and collapsed bridges block supply routes.

Climate change and extreme weather

Experts warn that climate change in India is intensifying extreme monsoon events. Warmer air holds more moisture, making sudden, destructive rains more frequent. Eastern Rajasthan now faces sharper swings between drought and floods, with fragile soils unable to withstand the pressure.

Despite devastation, resilience holds. Women cook in shared kitchens, youth mark danger zones, and elders keep night watch. Two faces of one disaster—land loss in Jadawata and inundation in Surwal—capture both the scale of the August 2025 Rajasthan floods and the determination of communities to rebuild and survive.