Blue Flag Certification to 2 new Indian Beaches
- 2 more beaches in Lakshadweep have been accorded the ‘Blue Flag’ tag.
- Put in an elite list of the world’s cleanest and most eco-friendly “beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators”.
The Blue Flag
- An exclusive eco-label or certification that is given to coastal locations around the world as a badge of environmental honour.
- This programme is run by the Copenhagen, Denmark-headquartered Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).
- A nonprofit which contributes to the SDGs of the UN.
- In order to qualify, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria must be met and maintained.
- Started in 1987, initially in Europe.
- Certification is awarded annually.
- A total 5,042 beaches, marinas, and tourism boats in 48 countries have been awarded the label so far.
New ‘Ecolabel’ Beaches
- Minicoy Thundi beach and Kadmat beach - both in Lakshadweep.
- 10 Indian beaches on the list:
- Shivrajpur in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district;
- Ghogla beach in Diu;
- Kasarkod (Uttara Kannada)
- Padubidri (Udupi) in Karnataka;
- Kappad (Kozhikode) in Kerala;
- Eden beach in Puducherry;
- Kovalam (Chennai) in Tamil Nadu;
- Rushikonda (Visakhapatnam) in Andhra Pradesh;
- Golden beach in Puri, Odisha;
- Radhanagar Swarajdeep in Andaman and Nicobar.
Prelims Takeaway
- Blue Flag