95% of devpt works complete at Padubidri Beach: Officials

Udupi: Chandrashekar Naik, assistant director, tourism department, said, “Padubidri Beach is liklely to get Blue Flag certification by the end of this year. About 95% of development works that include the construction of toilets, installation of solar lamps and dustbins and greywater treatment plants have been completed. Currently, peripheral works like parking area are being undertaken by KRIDL and gardening work by the PWD is under progress. The beach is getting ready for inspection by the national and international jury.”
To plan sustainable tourism and healthy coastal management, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change has conceived an integrated coastal management scheme, Beach Management Services (BEAMS), to reduce existing pollutants on beaches and to aspire and achieve high international standards like Blue Flag in India.
There are 33 very stringent criteria to be complied to, based on which a beach is certified as Blue Flag, and permitted to hoist its flag. The moment a blue flag is hoisted on a beach, the mention is made in the global headquarters of the Foundation for Environment Education in Copenhagen, Denmark. Tourists who are familiar with Blue Flag beaches and its standards then plan their holidays in that country.
Some of the works undertaken include bio-toilet blocks, changing rooms with shower panels, jogging track, and children’s play area for recreational activities of beachgoers, provision of purified drinking water on the beach to avoid plastic bottle on beaches, CCTV cameras for 24x7 surveillance, watchtowers and safety flags.