Indonesia Is Relocating Its Capital 100 Miles Away

By: | May 11th, 2019

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Indonesian capital Jakarta is sinking faster than any other big city on the planet.

With a population of over 10 million, it is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.  This massive city is literally disappearing into the ground because of rising sea levels caused by climate change.

The city is sinking up to 6.7 inches a year and almost half the city sits below the sea level now

Researchers at the Bandung Institute of Technology, the oldest technology-oriented university in Indonesia say that parts of the megacity could be entirely submerged by 2050.

Indonesian government plans to move its capital city 100 miles away from its current location

The project to move the city on the island of Java would require a massive $33 billion budget. Though the entire project would take around ten years to complete but it’s the only way to protect its residents.

Nearly half of the city sits below sea level which is making it extremely vulnerable to floods which has devastated homes and impacted the business in recent years.

Though the government still has to choose an alternate spot, but the state news agency Antara has reported that Palangka Raya, a city on the island of Borneo is being considered for moving the capital.

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

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