Delhi is sinking faster than any other Indian megacity, recording the highest maximum rate of land subsidence and the largest number of buildings at high structural risk, a new study published in Nature , a multidisciplinary science journal, has revealed. Around 1.7 million people in the Capital, the researchers estimate, are exposed to land subsidence.

The Capital currently has 2,264 buildings categorised as being at high risk from the ongoing land subsidence, according to the study titled “Building Damage Risk in Sinking Indian Megacities”. The findings, published in the journal on October 28, highlight that the city has exhibited a maximum subsidence rate of 51.0 mm per year.

Among the five megacities analysed, Delhi has the third largest area affected by subsidence, at 196.27 km²

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