The reasons seem to stem from situations that were completely man-made and were directed at short-term gains by the respective authorities during their reigns. In places along the coastline, the ground has subsided by four meters over the last few decades, meaning that the concrete barricades are the only thing preventing whole communities from being engulfed by the sea.īut what led to this present-day death warrant for Jakarta is quite mind-boggling. Some of the more reasons why Jakarta is the world’s fastest sinking city:Īs per a report in Wired, Twenty kilometers of sea walls have been thrown up around Jakarta Bay in the past three years, along with many more reinforcements along river banks, the first phase of a desperate attempt to fortify the city’s waterlogged northern districts. The real reason might be that its current capital is sinking, and the administration might not be in a position to do anything to save their city from the water levels that rise significantly with every passing year. How are man made decisions responsible for sinking Jakarta In comparison, Java is home to 60% of the country’s population and more than 50% of its GDP. Government reasons for this are to promote Kalimantan as a strategic location that is almost four times bigger than Java, but accounts for less than a tenth of the GDP. The government seems to have given up, indicated by their plans to shift the capital to East Kalimantan. It is subsiding at a rate of 1-15 cm per year, with nearly half of the city immersed underwater. This is more than double the global average for coastal large cities. North Jakarta already has sunk 2.5 meters in the last ten years and continues to sink by nearly 25 centimeters per year in different areas. North Jakarta is predicted to be submerged up to 95% by the end of 2050. But, the question is ‘Can this massive city, which is literally disappearing into the ground, be saved?’ Flooding alone could be tackled by mankind in some ways. Swampy land, the Java Sea, and 13 rivers running through it make Jakarta prone to flooding, and it has become an annual event in recent years. The wrong decisions and policies have been left ed uncorrected for so long that now there might not be any turning back! What would break anyone’s heart who loves this city, is that the reasons leading to this catastrophe are completely man-made. North Jakarta has sunk 2.5m in the last 10 years, more than double the global average of similar megacities. During many of my amateur photography expeditions, I often witnessed locations where the sea was up to the neck of the city, in a bid to cross over the flimsy walls guarding the Jakartans. Jakarta, where I have spent half an eventful decade, and a city that is quite close to my heart, is the fastest sinking city in the world. At this rate (25cm/year), major parts of the megacity could be completely underwater by 2050. March 21st, 2021 Jakarta, a megacity of 30 million people, is the fastest sinking city in the world.
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