Colombo:
The world's first underwater Cabinet meeting gets underway on Saturday when Maldives ministers would meet at the bottom of the sea to highlight the dangers posed by global warming to their picturesque archipelago.
A horse-shoe shaped table has been immersed in the blue waters off the Girifushi island, about 35 nautical miles from capital Male, where President Mohamed Nasheed will preside over his Cabinet.
The ministers dressed in scuba suits would arrive by speed boats to the island and then dive to the Cabinet rendezvous.
They would be using white boards and hand signals to communicate their decisions at the under-sea meet. All the ministers have been undergoing diving courses and the final rehearsals were held on Friday.
The Maldivian ministers are going to these extraordinary lengths as a UN panel on climate change had warned that even a rise of sea levels between 18 to 60 cm would submerge the islands by 2100.
Maldives comprises of more than 100 islands scattered over an area of 800 kms across the equator, and 90 per cent are just one metre above sea level.
A horse-shoe shaped table has been immersed in the blue waters off the Girifushi island, about 35 nautical miles from capital Male, where President Mohamed Nasheed will preside over his Cabinet.
The ministers dressed in scuba suits would arrive by speed boats to the island and then dive to the Cabinet rendezvous.
They would be using white boards and hand signals to communicate their decisions at the under-sea meet. All the ministers have been undergoing diving courses and the final rehearsals were held on Friday.
The Maldivian ministers are going to these extraordinary lengths as a UN panel on climate change had warned that even a rise of sea levels between 18 to 60 cm would submerge the islands by 2100.
Maldives comprises of more than 100 islands scattered over an area of 800 kms across the equator, and 90 per cent are just one metre above sea level.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
