Beach Management Services to reduce pollutants on beaches

Visakhapatnam: A delegation from the Society of Integrated Coastal Management, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change met Collector Pravin Kumar and discussed about the beach cleaning programme in the city.  

In order to plan sustainable tourism and healthy coastal management, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, conceived an integrated coastal management scheme - BEAMS (Beach Management Services) to reduce existing pollutants on beaches and achieve high international standards.

The main objective of setting up of BEAMS is to promote sustainable development in coastal regions of the country for the beach management authorities to strive to achieve high standards in four categories of environmental management, including cleanliness, solid waste management in beaches, environmental education, safety and security of beachgoers, bathing water quality standards. 

It primarily focuses on ‘Beach Rejuvenation Plan’ that also means development of beach facilities, reduction and regulations of beach littering and undertaking day to day cleaning operations in beaches, the delegation explained to the Collector  Clean beach is the primary indicator of coastal environmental quality and management. However, coastal regions are highly susceptible to litter accumulation.

The presence of such debris not only affects the aesthetic appeal of beaches but also reduces their recreational (tourism) value drastically.  It is also to ensure and control various types of pollutions in beaches by effective solid waste management, utilisation and bring significant awareness on environment protection and sensitise beachgoers of ecosystems and biodiversity, the experts team of BEAMS informed to the Collector.

The department has identified to implement the programme at the RK Beach and Rushikonda beaches and the project would be carried out in association with the local authorities. Responding to the project, the Collector welcomed the delegation and assured to extent cooperation from the administration.