Puri beach gets Blue Flag certification, boost to Odisha Tourism

BHUBANESWAR: Copenhagen-based Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) on Sunday granted the prestigious Blue Flag certification to Golden beach at Puri besides seven other sea beaches in the country. The state government hopes the Blue Flag certification to Puri beach, a first-of-its-kind in Odisha, will give a significant boost to tourism.
The Centre under its ambitious Beach Environment and Aesthetic Management System (BEAMS) programme had last month proposed names of the eight beaches–Shiavrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod (Karnataka), Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Golden Beach (Odisha), Rushikonda (AP) and Radhanagar (Andaman)–to the FEE’s international jury for consideration of the Blue Flag tag. The FEE had prescribed 33 sets of guidelines on cleanliness, eco-friendly environment and tourist-friendly amenities for getting the Blue Flag status.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik expressed his happiness over the Blue Flag certification to the Puri beach. “Glad to share that Golden Beach of #Puri has received coveted #BlueFlag certification by FEE Denmark by conforming to the stringent environmental norm and ensuring world class sustainable tourist amenities. The renowned eco-label will add to the charm of the #WorldHeritageCity,” Naveen tweeted.

Of the 8-km-long Puri beach, 870-metre stretch from Digabareni Square to Mayfair Hotel was developed under the World Bank-funded integrated coastal zone management project (ICZMP) for the Blue Flag certification.
Sources said nearly Rs 11 crore was spent together by the Centre and state government on development of eco-friendly and tourist-friendly amenities, including beach huts, jogging track, toilets, chairs, safe bathing zone, watchtowers, landscape, plantations, changing and shower rooms for tourists, installation of CCTV cameras and solar street lights at the Golden Beach.
“Blue Flag certification is a highly prestigious global recognition and will attract more tourists, mostly foreigners to Odisha,” ICZMP’s project director Susanta Nanda said.
Notably, the Golden Beach was thrown open for tourists last month. Puri district administration charges Rs 20 as user fee from each visitor for three hours and Rs 50 for the whole day.
“We welcome the Blue Flag tag for the 900-metre beach Golden Beach. But Puri has an 8-km-long beach. Other stretches have been lying in neglect and lack basic infrastructure for tourists,” environmentalist and president of Beach Protection Council of Odisha, a voluntary organisation, Jagannath Bastia said.
In June last year, the district administration launched ‘Mo Beach’ (my beach) campaign to keep the shoreline clean and beautiful. The district collector Balwant Singh engaged local communities, civil society organisations and volunteers in the Mo Beach cleaning exercise. Puri district has at least 7 enchanting beaches, including the sprawling shore in the Puri town. Other beaches that attract tourists are Chandrabhaga (Konark), Balighai, Ramchandi, Astaranga, Baliharchandi and Rajhans in the district.
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