Rushikonda Beach gets Blue Flag status back; public asked to keep beach, sea litter-free

Visakhapatnam: Rushikonda Beach in Visakhapatnam has regained its Blue Flag certification following a temporary suspension over poor maintenance standards at the public beach.

A few weeks ago, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) revoked the Blue Flag status due to concerns regarding parking, security and stray dog management, among other issues. Minister for Tourism Kandula Duresh on Monday hoisted the Blue Flag at Rushikonda Beach.

The public should help make Rushikonda Beach popular

Speaking on the occasion, he said that among the many beaches, along the State’s 974-km long coastline, Rushikonda Beach in Visakhapatnam is special. “The Blue Flag certification was temporarily revoked due to the negligence of the previous YSRCP government, and as soon as we came to know about this, we immediately took all necessary steps to restore it,” he said.

The minister said that the public should cooperate in the development of the beach, as the Blue Flag certification will help attract international tourists. A special program has been organised under the leadership of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan to ensure that the Blue Flag always remains on the beach, he said.

“Everyone should recognise the need to keep beaches clean. The participation of the public and locals is essential for the Blue Flag status to last for decades and attract tourists,” the tourism minister said.

Elaborating further, Durgesh reminded that the Blue Flag certificate was recently temporarily withdrawn by a Danish company. The organisers have not said anywhere that they will cancel it completely. He also said that they have reminded him of the responsibility to increase management capacity through temporary withdrawal.

Don’t litter the sand and sea with plastic

“It is easy to bring new projects to the State, but there is a need to work together for their effective management. It is the responsibility of local public representatives to tell tourists and the public not to litter arbitrarily in beach areas, not to throw anything into the sea, including plastic waste, not to pollute the water, and to keep the surroundings clean,” Durgesh said and added that people should be encouraged to follow the prescribed procedures.

Beer beach shacks to attract international visitors

The tourism minister also said that this Blue Flag status will help attract international tourists to the beach. He said it is the responsibility of the Tourism Department to properly maintain the cleanliness and other facilities on the beach.

“We should all work harder to make Visakhapatnam beautiful and steps are being taken to arrange bamboo passing places. Beach shacks will also be introduced to serve beer and wine for attracting international tourists, which will provide an opportunity for economic growth as well as tourism development,” he said and added the matter has been noted by the chief minister who will take a decision soon.