8 beaches in India get international recognition for cleanliness, coastal development

Eight Indian beaches have been conferred with the blue flag certification, the Union environment ministry said on Sunday.

Eight Indian beaches have been conferred with the blue flag certification, the Union environment ministry said on Sunday.

Golden beach, Odisha received the blue flag certification. (SICOM)

The certification is a voluntary eco-label for the cleanest and most developed coastal areas in the world awarded by a Denmark-based jury of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Until now, no beach in India had qualified for it, while only a few Asian beaches had been conferred the certification. The beaches are Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod (Karnataka), Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha) & Radhanagar (Andaman).

According to the environment ministry, no blue flag nation has ever achieved tags for eight beaches in one attempt, while India is also the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to have achieved this feat within a time-frame of two years. “This is a proud moment for India as all eight beaches recommended by the government have received the coveted international blue flag certification. India is now in the league of 50 blue flag nations globally and we take pride in this superlative performance of our nation,” said Prakash Javadekar, Union environment minister.

HT had reported September 19 that all eight beaches vying for the certification had witnessed and 82% reduction in marine litter and 84% reduction in plastic between June 2018 and May 2020, according to Beach Environment and Aesthetics Management Services (BEAMS) report based on efforts undertaken by the nodal agency for the certification - the Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) under the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

Sanjai Jalla, mission leader of the programme, said, “The international jury comprising eminent members United Nations Environment Program, UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), FEE, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) etc. have conveyed their decision in the jury meeting held on October 6 for awarding all eight candidate beaches as recommended by India.”

In June, a national jury comprising scientists and environmentalists recommended these eight beaches to the international jury after examination that all blue flag criteria were being met by them. Jalla said apart from India, Japan, South Korea and United Arab Emirates were the only other nations who had been conferred the certification with a couple of beaches, however, in a time-frame of about five to six years. “India has also been awarded the third prize for ‘international best practices’ on pollution control in coastal regions,” he said.

FEE initiated the certification process from France in 1985. Beaches have to meet 33 criteria to achieve the certification which include environment education and information (seven criteria), environment management (15 criteria), bathing water quality (six criteria), safety and services (five criteria).

MoEFCC had originally identified 13 pilot beaches for the certification in 2018, but work is yet to commence for selected beaches at Lakshadweep, Maharashtra and Goa, while efforts are underway at Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. “These beaches have been planned to be taken up for certification next year under our vision agenda to develop and deliver 100 more beaches under the second phase of our Integrated Coastal Zone Management project over the next five years,” said Jalla.