A programme was initiated today for Blue Flag certification of one 'Blue Flag' beach in each of the 13 coastal states and UTs under the World Bank-assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP).
Blue Flag has 33 stringent criteria to be complied based on which a beach is certified and permitted to hoist their flag in these beaches.
The moment a Blue Flag is hoisted in a beach, the mention is made in the global headquarters of Foundation for Environment Education (FEE) in Copenhagen, Denmark and thereby on the World Tourism Map.
FEE-nominated representatives will conduct regular monitoring and audits for compliance and thus, concerted efforts are required to qualify for Blue Flag Certification.
"Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) under the Environment Ministry has embarked upon a programme for Blue flag certification of one Blue Flag beach in each of the 13 coastal States /UTs under the World Bank-assisted ICZMP," an official statement said.
The SICOM conceived an integrated coastal management scheme named the BEAMS (Beach Management Services).
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The main objective of the BEAMS programme is to reduce pollutants, promote sustainable development and strive for high standards in the areas of environmental management, environmental education, bathing water quality and safety and security services scientifically.
A Clean beach is the primary indicator of coastal environmental quality, management and economic health of beach tourism. However, coastal regions in India are highly susceptible to litter and other pollution, the statement said.
A team of the SICOM carried out extensive field research work to assess gaps with regard to Blue Flag requirements, in consultation with local authorities and stakeholders in the 13 nominated pilot beaches.
These 13 beaches include - Shivrajpur (Dwarka) Gujarat, Ghoghla (Diu) Daman and Diu, Bhogve (Sindhudurg) Maharashtra, Miramar (Panjim) Goa, Padubidri (Udupi) Karnataka, Kappad (Kozhikode) Kerala, Emerald (Karaikal) Puducherry, Mahabalipuram Tamil Nadu, Rushikonda (Vishakhapatnam), Andhra Pradesh, Chandrabhaga (Puri) Odissa, Tajpur (Purbi Midnapur)West Bengal, Radhanagar (Havlock) Andaman Nicobar and Bangaram, Lakshdweep.
"With 'I AM SAVING MY BEACH' (Intensive Beach Cleaning and Environment Education) campaign, environment ministry has kick started the journey towards certifying these beaches for Eco-label at par with Blue Flag beaches in the world.
"This campaign was undertaken by team of SICOM-Environment ministry at these beaches concurrently for an extensive cleaning & environment education drive, coinciding with the World Environment Day celebrations," it said.
Hundreds of volunteers joined these drives, coming from local communities, fishermen society, school children, scouts, and officials from Coast Guard, Navy, officials from tourism, environment and forest departments, offices of District Collectors, Gram Panchayat, as well as municipalities.
They cleaned their respective beaches with tools, equipment made of environment friendly materials and collected, segregated and recycled tons of littered garbage (majority of which was plastic) in these beaches.
I#AM#SAVING#MY#BEACH is a national level campaign that will be undertaken periodically in these nominated pilot beaches for Blue Flag certification journey, the ministry said.