ALL RESIDENTIAL in Kapashera societies extract groundwater. But we never thought it could lead to the sinking of our land," says Rajesh Gera, president of Surya Vihar Housing society in southwest Delhi, which is less than 10 km from the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
In 2014, one of the pillars in the parking lot of the society developed cracks. By 2019, the crack had widened so much that the entire building could have collapsed. This June, when Down To Earth (DTE) visited the society, Gera showed the repaired crack, which had reached more than 1.5 m in height. "We initially ignored it and then blamed the builder for poor construction. Now we know it is happening due to land subsidence triggered by excessive groundwater extraction," he says.
Residents tell DTE that apart from the threat of a collapse, they are also seeing the groundwater levels declining rapidly. In early 2000, the society had four borewells at a depth of 200 m. By 2020, two of them had dried up.
Shagun Garg, who is currently at the University of Cambridge, UK, had established the link between groundwater extraction and land subsidence in Delhi in 2020. He had found that land subsidence at Kapashera was happening at a rate of 17 cm per year, or roughly the length of a smartphone. Garg came to this conclusion after he monitored the land subsidence rate at four locations in the National Capital Region in 2014-16, in 2016-18 and in 2018-20. Apart from the residential society, he found subsidence at Fun and Food waterpark in Surya Vihar, and at Raja Nahar Singh International Cricket Stadium and Piyush Mahendra Mall in Faridabad.
この記事は Down To Earth の July 01, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Down To Earth の July 01, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
