Blue Flag Beaches in India List

Table of Contents

Context: Rushikonda Beach wins back the Blue Flag tag which was earlier withdrawn due to poor maintenance. Read this article to get the List of Blue Flag Beaches in India.

What is Blue Flag Certification?

The Blue Flag Certification is an international eco-label awarded by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), Denmark.
It is given to beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators that meet high environmental, safety and cleanliness standards.

Criteria

To receive the Blue Flag tag, a beach must fulfill 33 stringent criteria across four major categories:

Environmental Education and Information.
Water Quality.
Environmental Management.
Safety & Services.

What are Blue Flag Beaches?

The Blue Flag Beaches Initiative began in France and in 1987, the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE) was formed by the European community that gave the concept of Blue Flag Beaches.
The Blue Flag Beaches Programme is run by the FEEE and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In 2001, FEEE rules were changed to allow non-European national organisations and South Africa became the first country outside of Europe to join the initiative.

About the Blue Flag Tag

In order to qualify for the Blue Flag tag, a series of 33 stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria must be met and maintained by a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator.
It serves as an eco-label.
The certification is based on the recommendations of an International jury which includes the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Around fifty countries currently participate in the programme, and over 4,000 beaches, marinas, and boats have this certification at present.
The highest number of Blue Flag tagged sites in the world is found in Spain.

Blue Flag Beaches in India

India has 12 Blue Flag-certified beaches.
India has aimed to expand the network of Blue Flag certification to 100 such beaches in the country in the next five years.
India launched its own eco-label Beach Environment and Aesthetics Management Services (BEAMS) under its Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project in 2018.
India’s First Blue Flag beach was Chandrabhaga beach on the Konark coast of Odisha.
India was also Asia’s first beach to get the certification.