BHUBANESWAR: The Golden beach in Puri - one of the eight Blue Flag beaches in the country - has reduced marine litter by over 99 per cent (pc) in the last three years. While it has been able to eliminate plastic and other waste generation by 99 pc, there have been a 100 pc reduction in biowaste at the beach between June 2018 and June 2021.
The total waste generation at Golden beach prior to June 2018 was a whopping 29,588 kg annually. However, after the State government worked towards achieving the Blue Flag tag for the beach, the quantity of such waste generated has now been reduced to as low as 221 kg. Plastic waste generation has reduced from 725 kg per year to just 5 kg a year, while bio-waste generation has come down to zero from 14,283 kg earlier. “The waste generation has reduced to almost 100 pc. Currently, the Golden Blue Flag beach is one of the best in the world,” said Director of Environment Susanta Nanda.
The marine litter reduction is also significant in the seven other Blue Flag beaches at Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod (Karnataka), Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh) and Radhanagar (Andaman). The marine litter has been reduced by an average 86 pc in all eight beaches. In 2019, Odisha had proposed the development of 11 beaches in Ganjam, Puri, Balasore and Bhadrak.
Joint Secretary and National Project Director of Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has informed that they are working towards developing at least 100 beaches as world-class beaches in the country in the ensuing five years. And, priority will be given to the development of the beaches in Odisha.
CLEANER BEACH
Waste generation comes down to 221 kg from 29,588 kg
Plastic waste reduced from 725 kg to 5 kg
Bio-waste generation is down to zero from 14,283 kg