Indonesia Shifts Capital From Jakarta To Borneo

In News

• Recently, Indonesian government unveiled the site of the country’s new capital to show  the progress made on the city’s construction

About 

• The new capital Nusantara is located in East Kalimantan province on the Indonesian part of Borneo
• East Kalimantan is an area with immense water resources and habitable terrain on Borneo island which is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Reasons For Shift

• Jakarta is home to about 10 million people and three times that number in the greater metropolitan area.
• Jakarta is the world’s most rapidly sinking city and at the current rate, it is estimated that one-third of the city could be submerged by 2050. uncontrolled groundwater extraction and  rising Java Sea due to climate change are considered main reasons for sinking.
• It floods regularly and its streets are so clogged that it’s estimated congestion costs the economy $4.5 billion a year.
• Jakarta’s air and water are heavily polluted.

Concerns

• East Kalimantan is rich in flora and fauna.Moving the capital to East Kalimantan would lead to massive deforestation and put the habitat of  animals and trees in danger and damage the ecosystem.
• Relocation of  Indigenous Balik people because of the construction,

Source: TH