Turkey’s biggest basin, sinkhole struggles with drought

KONYA

Located in Central Anatolia and once known as Turkey’s grain warehouse, the Konya Closed Basin is fighting drought due to improper irrigation activities and uncontrolled agriculture.

Çıralı Sinkhole, one of the most important natural formations in the region with an area of nearly 17,500 square meters, has also dried up after weeks without rain.

Experts state that the sinkhole, which contains traces of prehistoric life and man-made caves, has dried up due to seasonal drought and uncontrolled irrigation practices.

“The sinkhole was a place visited by many tourists before. People would come to take pictures and set up camps to immortalize its beauty. Now there is not a drop of water left in the sinkhole,” said Veysel Zengin, a visitor.

The annual consumption of water in the basin was 4.5 billion cubic meters in 2019, while annual consumption reached 6.5 billion cubic meters in 2020, according to the experts.

While 80 millimeters of rainfall fell on the basin in the July - December period in 2019, only 30 millimeters of rainfall fell in 2020.