Odisha’s Chandrabhaga beach to get Blue Flag Certification on June 5

KalingaTV News Network

Bhubaneswar: The Chandrabhaga beach on the Konark coast in Odisha will be the first in Asia to get the Blue Flag certification- a tag for environment-friendly, clean and equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists, Union Environment Ministry sources said on Sunday.

The beach will be awarded the honour on the World Environment Day on June 5, the Ministry sources added.

In addition to Chandrabhaga, as many as 12 other Indian beaches on the coast of Maharashtra, Puducherry, Goa, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will soon receive the Blue Flag certification.

All these beaches are being developed by the Society for Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM), an Environment Ministry’s body working for the management of coastal areas, in accordance with the Blue Flag standards.

The Blue Flag beach standards were established by Copenhagen-based Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) in 1985. The Blue Flag programme, which requires 33 standards in four areas to be met to make beaches environment-friendly, first started from Paris.

However, the Environment Ministry embarked on the Blue Flag project in December 2017.