160 decibels shatter Anjuna, as police turn a deaf ear
April 1997: Anjuna Beach: 10pm: It’s almost quiet in thevicinity of the Wednesday flea market. A band winds down at a nearbyrestaurant. All roads lead to the corner of Anjuna beach to a famous ‘shack’.Men and women in colourful florescent tinged outfits dot the beach. DJs readytheir MD players. And the rave begins on a glorious full moon night. Less thana kilometer away, an Anjuna resident snores soundly, unperturbed, as the soundfrom the party travels out over the water away from the village.
February 2013: Anjuna Beach. 10pm. A few restaurants serve aquiet dinner to their patrons. A few big bikes pass by, their Twins don’tshatter the peace. A deep bass line does. 148 bpm of racy psy-trance music,travels through the air. The party continues into the night. Travel away frombeach towards Vagator you’re greeted by another wall of sound. To your left, alittle ways up the hill is a trance party in progress. It’s almost 10.30, waypast the deadline for curbing sound. To your right, is the Anjuna PoliceStation. No one stirs. The party continues in Anjuna.
The culprits – Curlie’s, Shiva Valley, UV Bar, Hilltop. Andthey’re flouting the law with careless abandon. The Goan visited the area andfound that not only are these parties continuing until daylight, but they arefar beyond permissible decibel levels.
“Whenever we complain to the police or ‘100’, the partiesare stopped at around 4am. Otherwise the music continues till late in themorning,” said Rayan Fernandes, a resident of Anjuna.
The adopted Madhya Pradesh Sound Act states that all loudmusic needs to be curbed at 10pm. After the time limit, sound level cannotexceed 55 decibels, a fact corroborated by the Bardez Deputy Collector, ShabajiShetye. Anjuna PI Vishwesh Karpe goes one step further claiming, “We have amachine to check sound levels and we regularly conduct checks when the partiesare on,” he says. Deputy Collector Shetye states that a copy of the soundpermission is sent to the local police station and it is their responsibilityto monitor sound levels. But, as the local police feign ignorance, The Goan’s soundmeter exposed the apathy of the police.
While the sound levels outside many of the establishmentshit a high mark at 160 decibels at one point in the night, the sound levels atthe Anjuna Police Station itself was around 75-80 decibels, at 10.30pm. On twoconsecutive nights.
A High Court order holds the in-charge of the police stationresponsible for loud music continuing beyond the permissible limit. But AnjunaPI, Vishwesh Karpe seems unconcerned.
While the villagers in Anjuna have got together to file apetition and challenge the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities, the bigquestion is, what really is so ‘special’ about Anjuna? ‘Special” bars continuetheir noisy parties, locals protest loudly but eh police is completely silent.
