8 Indian beaches get 'Blue Flag' tag
In a great honour, India is now among 50 countries that have at least eight beaches winning the clean-beach certification by the Foundation for Environment Education (FEE), Denmark. The list includes Puri's Golden beach and two beaches of Karnataka, among others. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took to Twitter to share the news. He posted, "8 of India’s serene beaches get the prestigious Blue Flag Certification. This showcases the importance India attaches to protecting such spots and furthering sustainable development."
8 beaches in India win Blue Flag tag:
Mentioned below are the beaches in India that won the 'Blue Flag' tag
- Kasarkod in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka
- Padubidri in Udupi, Karnataka
- Shivrajpur in Gujarat
- Ghoghla in Diu
- Kappad in Kerala
- Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh
- Golden Beach in Puri, Odisha
- Radhanagar in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
India had started working on getting the Blue Flag certification in 2018 and had planned to expand it to 100 such beaches in the next five years. Lauding the great success, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that that it an exemplary achievement for India as no Blue Flag bearing nations have ever been awarded for 8 beaches in just a single attempt.
In September, a national jury of top scientists and environmentalists had recommended the eight beaches in India for the certification.
What is 'Blue Flag' Tag?
Blue Flag bearing beaches are considered to be the world's cleanest beaches. So far, FEE has awarded the tag to 4,664 beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators from 50 countries.
A beach should meet 33 stringent criteria relating to environmental, bathing water quality, educational, safety, services and accessibility standards in order to qualify for the certification.
Spain has the highest number of Blue Flag sites.
