New Delhi: India's wanted Delhi is now facing a new environmental crisis– land subsidence. According to a recent international study, land is sinking rapidly in many parts of Delhi-NCR. This threat has wilt so serious in Delhi that the foundations of thousands of buildings have started shaking. If the situation does not change, this danger may increase remoter in the coming decades.
What was revealed in the study?
A study published in the periodical 'Nature' states that the rate of land subsidence in Delhi has now reached 51 mm per year. In this research titled 'Building Forfeiture Risk in Sinking Indian Megacities', it has been said that 2,264 buildings in the wanted have come under the category of serious structural danger. At the same time, well-nigh 17 lakh people are living in such places where land subsidence is posing a uncontrived threat.
Who else is on the list?
Delhi ranks third in terms of subsidence among the five big metros of the country. Well-nigh 196.27 square kilometers are unauthentic here. Ahead of this are Mumbai (262.36 sq km) and Kolkata (222.91 sq km). In areas like Bijwasan, Faridabad and Ghaziabad of Delhi-NCR, the land is sinking at the rate of 28.5 mm, 38.2 mm and 20.7 mm per year respectively. Even the Dwarka zone of Delhi is showing signs of weakness at many places.
What are the reasons?
Researchers have enumerated three main reasons for this transpiration happening under the earth:
- Over-exploitation of groundwater: Due to the drawing of underground water, the soil shrinks and the earth sinks.
- Irregular monsoon: Insufficient or untimely rainfall affects the water level.
- Climate Change: Disturbances in temperature and rainfall patterns have remoter increased the crisis.
What will be the situation without 30 and 50 years?
The study warns that if the current situation is not controlled, 3,169 increasingly buildings in Delhi will be at risk in the next 30 years. Whereas without 50 years this number may increase to 11,457. Cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru are moreover not untouched by this crisis.
Now well-judged monitoring and whoopee is necessary
According to experts, cracks in buildings are not the only indicator, and buildings without cracks can moreover be affected. In such a situation, it has been recommended to prepare an integrated database related to land subsidence and forfeiture to buildings so that governments can take policy decisions at the right time.
This combination of climate change, rapid urbanization, and resource exploitation has now wilt an watchtower tintinnabulate for India's cities. It is time that the authorities, planners and worldwide citizens all take serious whoopee together, otherwise it will wilt difficult to handle the situation if there is a delay.
