Eight Indian beaches have got an International Blue Flag Certification, said Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Note the beaches and their respective states. They can be asked in the ”match the pairs” type questions.

Citation needed: *As of now, there are 13 Blue flag awarded beaches in India a/c to wikipedia. But Blue Flag website would provide exact figures (which yet to update the official numbers).

Which are these beaches?

1. Shivrajpur (Dwarka-Gujarat)
2. Ghoghla (Diu)
3. Kasarkod [NOT Kasargod which is in Kerala] and Padubidri (Karnataka)
4. Kappad (Kerala)
5. Rushikonda (AP)
6. Golden Beach (Odisha) and
7. Radhanagar (A&N Islands)

Blue Flag Beaches

• The ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.
• The certification is accorded by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education.
• It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
• It has 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that is, (i) Environmental Education and Information (ii) Bathing Water Quality (iii) Environment Management and Conservation and (iv) Safety and Services.

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