New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI): Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday virtually hoisted the international blue flags on eight beaches across the country.
Blue Flag certification is a globally recognised eco-label accorded by the “Foundation for Environment Education in Denmark” based on 33 stringent criteria, an official release said.
The minister congratulated and lauded the efforts of the state and central government as well as the people and said that “neat and clean beaches are an indicator that the coastal environment is in good health”.
He said Blue Flag certification is a global recognition of India’s conservation and sustainable development efforts.
The minister said 100 more such beaches will be made Blue Flag in the coming three-four years and highlighted that cleaning beaches needs to be a made a “Jan Andolan” not only for its aesthetic value and tourism prospects but for reducing the menace of marine litter and making coastal environment sustainable.
The beaches where the International Blue Flags were hoisted are– Kappad (Kerala), Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha) and Radhanagar (Andaman and Nicobar Islands).
The flags were also simultaneously hoisted on these beaches physically by state ministers and senior officials of the respective states and union territories.
India secured the International Blue Flag Certification for these beaches on October 6, 2020, when an International Jury comprising of member organizations United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) among other announced the award at Copenhagen, Denmark.
The release said that India started its journey of sustainable development of coastal regions on World Environment Day in June 2018 by launching its beach cleaning campaign ‘I-AM- SAVING-MY-BEACH’ simultaneously at 13 coastal states and thereafter implementing “ministry’s coveted programme BEAMS (Beach Environment and Aesthetics Management Services)”. (ANI)
