India’s stunning 7,517- kilometre coastline invites domestic tourists and international visitors to relax on its sandy shores, engage in adventure activities like snorkelling, scuba diving, kayaking, and parasailing, and reconnect with a living environment that is diverse and beautiful. These visuals contrast sharply with another reality: plastic and garbage strewn on the sand, with more floating in the water.
Marine pollution is a serious problem for India’s waterways and beaches. In a single 20-day period in 2022, more than 200 tonnes of garbage—consisting of mostly single-use plastic—was cleared from 75 beaches in India under a Ministry of Earth Sciences’ coastal clean-up initiative. According to a 2015 study titled “Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean” in the journal Science, India ranked 12th among 192 countries for disbursing the maximum amount of plastic waste into the high seas from its coastline.
There are, however, well-maintained and clean "Blue Flag" beaches in India that also protect the biodiversity of the area. The Blue Flag programme run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) in Denmark, awards beaches, marinas, and boat operators globally with a Blue Flag designation if they meet environmental, educational, safety-related, and access-related criteria.
In India, ten beaches were awarded the Blue Flag before the 2024 monsoon season by the Society for Sustainable Urban Development (SSUD). These included Ghoghla Beach in Diu, the Eco Beach of Kasarkoda in Karnataka, Kappad Beach in Kerala, and Radhanagar Beach on Swaraj Island.
Shriji Kurup who heads the national operations team of Blue Flag India says the award has been received positively by beach management teams, local administrations, and citizens within the country. “Adopting Blue Flag criteria starts a process of fostering sustainability in tourism and coastal areas through environmental education, citizen engagement, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable practices,” he says.
Environmental engineer Ferdin Sylvester, who started the OneEarth Foundation in part to mitigate the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems, appreciates the contributions of the Blue Flag programme in safeguarding marine conservation but says only a minuscule proportion of the population actually knows about the programme in the first place.
“The Blue Flag award sets a high bar for environmental responsibility in beaches, but it in India, very few people know of this award, or how to start working towards it. There is need to spread more awareness,” he says. “The focus on specific criteria will leave out other issues like overfishing or pollution from industrial activities.”
This attention on recognising beaches has overshadowed the fact that the Blue Flag award also certifies marinas and boat operators in India, both of whom have shown very little interest in pursuing the specific criteria developed for their sectors.
And, while one of Blue Flag’s criteria states that industrial, wastewater or sewage-related discharges should not affect the beach area, the FEE is in the process of revising its criteria to address emerging challenges such as climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, pollution, sustainable transport, responsible tourism, and sustainability education. The updated criteria will be implemented over the next few years.
There is a concern that the Blue Flag award is simply recognising beaches that look good on the surface but fail to actually dent marine pollution. For Kurup, ensuring transparency, trust, and robustness in certification systems is key to addressing greenwashing concerns.
“The idea is not to fail beaches, marinas and boat operators. The criteria are strict [but] the push is to make the appropriate corrective actions. In India, we have a huge footfall, so, perhaps, we should put more emphasis on safety. Generally, Blue Flag beaches have a high bar for safety, but other beaches may not have the process in place to ensure safety equipment.” Sylvester favours certifications for marine conservation as they bring visibility, inspire change and encourage the adoption of sustainable practices.
“If properly publicised and marketed, they can attract tourism and investment, leading to improved infrastructure and overall management of the beach by local governments and partners,” he says.
However, he adds that “Developing a coastline policy that sets guidelines or standard operating procedures for managing pollution, overfishing, and climate change impacts should be a focus apart from the award. We need to increase collaborations with NGOs and local communities to build a wider network of support. The more people involved, the wider will be the reach and impact.”
Ghoghla Beach Diu
Eco Beach Kasarkod Karnataka
Padubidri Beach Karnataka
Kappad Beach Kerala
Kovalam Beach Tamil Nadu
Eden Beach Puducherry
Rushikonda Beach Andhra Pradesh
Golden Beach Odisha
Sunapur Beach Odisha
Radhanagar Beach Andaman Island