Blue Flag is the International Standard for clean , safe and green beaches. It is a voluntary award dedicated to the preservation and protection of the beautiful and pristine beaches across the world. And India just bagged eight Blue Flags and created a record.
Blue Flags are one of the world’s most widely recognized voluntary awards for beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators. There is list of strict environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria that must be met and maintained in order to earn and keep the Blue Flag tag.
The eight beaches which got the Blue Flags recognition are as follows.
- Shivrajpur (Gujarat),
- Ghoghla (Diu)
- Kasarkod (Karnataka)
- Padubidri (Karnataka),
- Kappad (Kerala)
- Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh)
- Golden (Odisha)
- Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).
There are over 4500 Blue Flags sites spread across around 50 nations of the world. And the hashtag for the project is #BlueFlagStaysStong .
Several international agencies were part of the jury of this recognition. Those include International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Previously India had also started the concept of Lighthouse Tourism by converting 194 lighthouses distributed over the eastern and western coast of the country into tourist destination.
