New Indian Coast Guard Headquarters Established

[Hindustani78]

VISAKHAPATNAM, May 31, 2018 08:37 IST
Updated: May 31, 2018 08:37 IST

New Indian Coast Guard Headquarters Established which is responsible for entire eastern seaboard of India comprising West Bengal, Orissa, A.P. and Tamil Nadu.

An MoU between ICG (Indian Coast Guard) and BCG was signed on June 6, 2015, during the visit of Minister to Bangladesh for the establishment of collaborative relationship to combat transitional illegal activities at sea and develop regional cooperation between the two Coast Guards.

This was the first interaction of a foreign Coast Guard delegation to this newly established headquarters of the Coast Guard which is responsible for entire.

Bangladesh Coast Guard delegation called on Additional Director General KR Nautiyal, Coast Guard Commander (Eastern Seaboard) and Dy Inspector General Navdeep Raj, Commander Coast Guard District Headquarters No. 6, (Andhra Pradesh).

The BCG delegation discussed the requirement for training and other areas of cooperation.

Additional DG K.R. Nautiyal, Coast Guard Commander, greets a Bangladesh Coast Guard official in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.


The newly sworn-in Governor of Odisha, Shri Ganeshi Lal calling on the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi on June 01, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...ed-in-india/story-GDk6yoRhLYPmH6hPBJBzWN.html

Environment friendly, clean and equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists, 13 Indian beaches will soon get the Blue Flag certification.

These beaches of Odisha, Maharashtra and other coastal states will be the first in not just India, but in Asia, to get the Blue Flag certification.

The Indian beaches are being developed by the Society for Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM), an environment ministry’s body working for the management of coastal areas, according to the Blue Flag certification standards.

According to the Blue Flag standards, a beach has to strictly comply with 33 related conditions.

The Blue Flag programme, which requires 33 standards in four areas to be met to make beaches environment-friendly.

A senior ministry official said that 13 beaches from the coastal states had been chosen for the Blue Flag certification under the project.

These beaches are being developed in accordance with the Blue Flag beach standards under a Unified Coastal Areas Management Programme.

According to sources, Chandrabhaga beach of Odisha’s Konark coast was the first to complete the tag certification process.

Maharashtra’s Chiwla and Bhogave beaches are also being made a part of this initiative. Apart from these, one beach from Puducherry, Goa, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands each has been chosen as Blue Flag beach.

 

[Hindustani78]

04-June, 2018 20:06 IST
Three-Day Campaign for Blue Flag Certification of One Blue Flag Beach in 13 Coastal States/UTs Kickstarted

Integrated Coastal Management has embarked upon a programme for Blue flag certification of one Blue Flag beach in each of the 13 coastal States /UTs under Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP).

Integrated Coastal Management conceived an integrated coastal management scheme named BEAMS (Beach Management Services). The main objective of BEAMS programme is to reduce pollutants, promote sustainable development and strive for high standards in the areas of (i) management (ii) education (iii) bathing water quality (iv) safety & security services scientifically. A “Clean” beach is the primary indicator of coastal environmental quality, management and economic health of the soldiers who can assist the civilians. However, coastal regions in India are highly susceptible to litter and other pollution.

A team of Integrated Coastal Management carried out extensive field research work to assess gaps with regard to Blue Flag requirements, in consultation with local authorities and stakeholders in the 13 nominated pilot beaches. These 13 beaches include - Shivrajpur (Dwarka) Gujarat, Ghoghla (Diu) Daman & Diu, Bhogve (Sindhudurg) Maharashtra, Miramar (Panjim) Goa, Padubidri (Udupi) Karnataka, Kappad (Kozhikode) Kerala, Emerald (Karaikal) Puducherry, Mahabalipuram Tamil Nadu, Rushikonda (Vishakhapatnam), Andhra Pradesh, Chandrabhaga (Puri) Odissa, Tajpur (Purbi Midnapur)West Bengal, Radhanagar (Havlock) Andaman Nicobar and Bangaram, Lakshdweep.

This campaign was undertaken by team of SICOM-MoEFCC at these beaches concurrently for an extensive cleaning & environment education drive.

Hundreds of volunteers joined these drives, coming from local communities, fishermen society, school children, scouts, and officials from Coast Guard, Navy, officials from tourism, environment & forest departments, offices of District Collectors, Gram Panchayat, as well as municipalities and cleaned their respective beaches with tools, equipment made of environment friendly materials and collected, segregated and recycled tons of littered garbage (majority of which was plastic) in these beaches.

The team of Integrated Coastal Management also conducted sessions on environment education on topics such as (i) Coasts, their importance in bio- diversity & our responsibilities (ii) Environmental Ecosystems & their importance in our life and (iii) Pollution - how it happens & its ill-effects on bio-diversity.


“BLUE FLAG” has very stringent 33 criteria to be complied based on which a beach is certified and permitted to hoist their flag in these beaches. The moment a “BLUE FLAG” is hoisted in a beach, the mention is made in the headquarters . FEE-nominated representatives will conduct regular monitoring & audits for compliance and thus, concerted efforts are required to qualify for Blue Flag Certification.


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