The megacity of Jakarta is currently on the radar for many issues ranging from over population to ill health of residents, poor sanitation to terrible traffic. However, did you know that the city is slowly sinking? Owing to all the above mentioned factors, Indonesia is on the lookout for a new capital city.

In fact, Jakarta is becoming the ‘fastest sinking capital in the world’. Parts of the city are already submerged under water and ‘the entire city will be under water by 2050,’ was recently quoted by experts in a report, published by The Times of India.

Jakarta has excessive groundwater pumping and due to 13 rivers flowing through the city, flooding is a common phenomenon. Hence, excessive flooding has led to the city sinking by almost 2.5 meters in the last decade. Some parts of the city have sunk almost 25cm in the last year.

The idea to move the country’s capital was first floated by President Sukarno in 1957. Since then, the conversation has come up numerous times but now the situation is dire and one needs to come to a decision.

The transition is supposedly going to take another decade while the search for a new capital is being done relentlessly by the current government.

Not just Indonesia, but Egypt too is building a new-yet-unnamed-capital to replace Cairo.