Photos | Sinking city: Indonesia’s capital on brink of disaster
Updated On Aug 20, 2019 05:07 PM IST
Jakarta has been listed as one of the fastest-sinking cities on earth by the environmental experts because of the decades of uncontrolled and excessive depletion of groundwater reserves, rising sea-levels, and increasingly volatile weather patterns mean swathes of it have already started to disappear. Built in an earthquake zone, on swamplands, near the confluence of 13 rivers, the city's foundations have been further stressed by unchecked development, heavy traffic, and poor urban planning.
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Updated on Aug 20, 2019 05:07 PM IST
A man walks on a muddy road between abandoned warehouses and a giant sea wall in northern Jakarta. Being one of the fastest-sinking cities on earth, environmental experts warn that one third of it could be submerged by 2050 if current rates continue. Decades of uncontrolled and excessive depletion of groundwater reserves, rising sea-levels, and increasingly volatile weather patterns mean swathes of it have already started to disappear. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
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Updated on Aug 20, 2019 05:07 PM IST
Houses (L) are under the sea level as seen in northern Jakarta. Existing environmental measures have had little impact, so authorities are taking drastic action: the nation will have a new capital. Its location could be announced imminently, according to local reports. “The capital of our country will move to the island of Borneo,” Indonesian leader Joko Widodo said on Twitter. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
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Relocating the country’s administrative and political heart may be an act of national preservation, but it effectively sounds the death-knell where many of the city’s 10 million residents have little means of escape. “When the floods came I used to tremble,” food stall owner Rasdi said. “I nearly drowned back in 2007 -- all my belongings were swept away and I had to start over again,” he added. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
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Updated on Aug 20, 2019 05:07 PM IST
Two men ride a motorcycle as water from the sea leaks through the giant sea wall. Built in an earthquake zone, on swamplands, near the confluence of 13 rivers, the city’s foundations have been further stressed by unchecked development, heavy traffic, and poor urban planning. Flooding is common during the tropical nation’s wet season and that is expected get worse as sea levels rise due to global warming. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
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Jakarta doesn’t have a piped water system in its northern reaches, so local industry and millions of residents tap into its aquifers. This rampant groundwater extraction causes land subsidence, which is making Jakarta sink by as much as 25 centimetres (10 inches) a year in some areas -- double the global average for major coastal cities. Today some parts of it sit some four metres below sea level, irrevocably changing the landscape, and leaving millions vulnerable to natural disasters. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
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A man walks next to an abandoned submerged mosque. “You can see it with your own eyes,” said Andri. “When I was a kid I used to swim over there,” he added, motioning off in the distance. “Over time the water just kept getting higher and higher.” (BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
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Even as Widodo presses on with the plan for a 21st century capital in Borneo island, local authorities are desperately probing solutions for Jakarta. A scheme to construct artificial islands in Jakarta’s bay, which would act as a buffer against the Java Sea, as well as a vast coastal wall was approved. But there is no guarantee the estimated $40 billion project -- which has been beset by years of delays -- would solve the city’s sinking woes. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP)
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Updated on Aug 20, 2019 05:07 PM IST