NEW DELHI: Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, virtually hoisted blue flags at eight beaches on Monday, December 28. These flags were simultaneously hoisted on the beaches physically by state ministers and senior officials of the respective state and union territories. These beaches are Kappad (Kerala), Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha) and Radhanagar (Andaman and Nicobar Islands).
On October 6, India secured the Blue Flag Certification for these 8 beaches by an International jury comprising of United Nations Environment Program, United Nations World Tourism Organisation, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, etc.
Blue Flag Certification is a globally recognised ecological label awarded by “Foundation for Environment Education in Denmark” according to a list of 33 criteria. Javadekar termed it as a “proud moment” for the country as it is the global recognition of India’s efforts towards sustainable development and environment conservation efforts. He added that clean beaches represent a healthy coastal environment of the country. He also said that a 100 more such beaches will be developed in the coming 3-4 years for which there is a need for ‘Jan Andolan’ for cleaning beaches. The need is not to attract tourists but more importantly working towards reducing the menace of marine litter and moving towards a sustainable coastal environment.