Ankara. Most of the wheat is grown in the Konya plain of Turkey. The total agricultural area of Konya Plain is about 2.6 million hectares, which is 11.2 percent of the total agricultural area of Turkey. This area is facing drought due to excessive production and excessive use of ground water. Due to this, hundreds of pits are being formed in the land, which are ruining the fields. According to a new report by Turkey’s Disaster Management Agency, 684 such sinkholes have been identified so far in the Konya Basin, while according to the Research Center, there were 299 sinkholes in 2017, which increased to 2,550 by 2021.
According to the report, about 20 new big sinkholes have been confirmed to form in the year 2025. The depth of these pits is said to be more than 30 meters and the width is said to be up to 100 feet. This crisis has not come suddenly, rather it has gradually increased due to the neglect of farmers and administration for the last 20 years. This problem will increase further in 2025, because drought and groundwater exploitation has increased significantly. According to the report, there are 534 sinkholes in Karapinar district alone and these are mainly in rural and agricultural areas.
Experts say that this is a disaster caused by humans, carelessness has further fueled it. The geological structure of the Konya Plain is of karst type, meaning the plain is made up of soluble rocks such as carbonates and gypsum. These rocks dissolve in water over thousands of years and form pits. Thousands of legal and illegal wells are operating in Konya to irrigate sugar beets, corn and other water-intensive crops. Ground water level has fallen by 60 meters in some areas since the 1970s. Illegal wells and uncontrolled pumping have weakened the ground, causing sudden subsidence.