Blue Flag beaches in India
The Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognized awards for beaches, marinas, and sustainable tourism boats. To qualify for a Blue Flag, stringent environmental management, safety and accessibility standards need to be maintained.
The Blue Flag programme is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the central ideas to awarding a Blue Flag is Education. It does so with the aim of connecting the public and improving their learnings about the surrounding environments.
The organization regularly monitors the spots and checks for adherence to criteria. This is done by undertaking comprehensive control visits at that particular location. The implementation and enforcement of the necessary criteria is done by appointing selected local organizations with an aim to ensure consistency of the standards.
The beaches, marinas, and boats can display a Blue Flag after having been awarded one. It proves that they have complied with strict regulations concerning the environmental, educational, safety and accessibility standards, as were applicable during the time of the award. The operators also accept full responsibility to ensure continued compliance with the criteria.
As of today, 5121 beaches, marinas, & tourism boats in 51 countries have been awarded the Blue Flag Certification. Spain tops the list with maximum Blue Flag beaches around 640. It is followed by Greece, Turkey, Italy, and France. As of 2024 India has 12 Blue Flag certified beaches.
- Golden Beach, Puri, Odisha
- Rushikonda Beach, Andhra Pradesh
- Kasarkod Beach, Karnataka
- Shivrajpur Beach, Dwarka, Gujrat
- Kappad Beach, Kerala
- Radhanagar Beach, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
- Ghoghla Beach, Diu
- Padubidri Beach, Karnataka
- Kovalam Beach, Tamil Nadu
- Eden Beach, Puducherry
- Minicoy Thundi Beach, Lakshadweep
- Kadmat Beach, Lakshadweep
The Blue flag is an eco-label certifying that the awarded Beach has clean and hygienic bathing water, along with all the basic infrastructure for tourists. This programme originally started in France in 1985. It was passed over to FEE, Denmark in 1987. South Africa became the first country in 2001, outside Europe to join the Blue Flag programme.
India has a long way to go with the initiative, given the improvement and education fostering around a clean environment. With the Indians visiting beaches in hordes each year, it becomes a joint responsibility of the visitors and the operators to ensure adherence to good practices about maintaining the beaches.
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SWATI