A small blue flag flying over a beach means it passed 33 separate international tests. India had zero of these flags in 2019. Six years later, it has 18.
Timeline
- 1985: The Blue Flag programme launches in France.
- 2001: Blue Flag certification expands beyond Europe, to beaches worldwide.
- 2018: India formally joins the Blue Flag Programme.
- 2025: India’s Blue Flag beach count reaches 18, after five new Maharashtra beaches are added.
Must Know
- Blue Flag Certification is a global eco-label for beaches, marinas, and tourism boats. It is awarded by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), a Denmark-based non-profit.
- A beach must meet 33 international criteria to qualify. These cover water quality, safety, accessibility, and environmental management and education.
- India joined the Blue Flag Programme in 2018. It received its first eight Blue Flag beaches in October 2020.
- Those first eight were Shivrajpur, Ghoghla, Kasarkod, Padubidri, Kappad, Rushikonda, Golden Beach, and Radhanagar, spread across multiple states and Union Territories.
- By 2025, India had 18 Blue Flag beaches, after five new Maharashtra beaches joined the list.
Good to Know
- India runs its own domestic support programme, called BEAMS (Beach Environment & Aesthetics Management Services). It is implemented by the Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM), under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- BEAMS helps beaches meet Blue Flag standards, ahead of formal certification by FEE.
- The programme’s objectives include reducing coastal pollution, developing sustainable beach infrastructure, and protecting coastal ecosystems.
- Certification is not permanent. Beaches must maintain the same standards year after year to keep their Blue Flag status.
- Blue Flag beaches exist in more than 50 countries worldwide, making it one of the most widely recognised eco-labels for coastal tourism.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Blue Flag certification fits a wider pattern of India using international standards to drive domestic environmental improvement. See EnvEco0049 — Project Dolphin for a similar conservation effort, this one built around a single flagship species instead of a beach standard.
- An eco-label works because it makes an otherwise invisible quality, like water safety or waste management, instantly visible to a tourist deciding where to spend a day at the beach.
Current Affairs
- 2025: Five Maharashtra beaches, Shrivardhan, Nagaon, Parnaka, Guhagar, and Ladghar, received Blue Flag certification. (Source: InsightsOnIndia)
- 2025: This took India’s total to 18 certified beaches, up from the 13 it held before these additions. (Source: InsightsOnIndia)
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