Ever since the din of electioneering has died down, loud music has taken over the coastal belt of North Goa, and it has been business as usual with sound violations extending into the wee hours of the morning, unabated. If popular clubs in Anjuna are violating the rules, the scene is no different along the Calangute-Baga coast and other hotspots.
The sound violations are happening while the election code is still in force, and against the backdrop of several High Court strictures. It speaks of how powerful the lobby is and how successfully it has engineered a collective compromise to let the music play.
Otherwise, how does one explain the sequence of events? While other businesses and establishments down their shutters and lower the decibels in line with the deadline and rulebook, a bunch of privileged few get the liberty to carry on with loud music, music that officials of the pollution control board, local police, district collector, deputy collector, ministers and even MLAs can't hear, no matter how deafening it is.
To put the issue in perspective, we recall the recent High Court observations on sound violations. Justices Valmiki Menezes and MS Sonak while hearing a petition filed by a local against loud music at Anjuna had stated that prima facie music continues to be played beyond the prescribed decibel levels beyond 10.00 pm in outdoor premises, and added that the police seem to be most reluctant to take the issue seriously. The court also squarely blamed the Director General of Police and stressed on the points raised in the affidavit that adequate steps would be taken to curb the menace. "It is for the DGP to consider whether the excuses about denials or some lip service by the police officers should be accepted or not," the Court had said. The High Court has been seized of the matter and has repeatedly made pointed references to the failure of the authorities, not just once or twice, but on multiple occasions in the past two years.
In the run-up to elections, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant pledged that there will be a ban on loud music beyond 10 pm at Anjuna and Vagator. “I don’t want to give false promises. There won’t be any loud music after 10 pm and the Deputy Collector will be directed to enforce the ban. The residents should not suffer because of the sound pollution”, he had thundered.
On paper, we have the noise pollution rules, and we have an action plan for control of noise pollution that was recently revised to give relief to family functions and small gatherings. We have a pollution control board that has drawn up ambitious plans to remotely sense loud music with the help of technology. The authorities, however, are certainly not playing by the spirit of these rules. An intent to crack down on these violations is lacking.
Much water has flown down the Mandovi since the fight began against the menace, and although a few citizens keep knocking on the doors of the judiciary in the faint hope of getting their peace back, a large section of people along the coastline have resigned to their fate as they remain bystanders to the overpowering show of this lobby.
The unfortunate part of this saga is that the party space has proven its might beyond reasonable doubt, and made a clear statement that it's here to stay, come what may. It has survived the Covid protocol, court censure and contempt, and every possible threat that came along. And above all, it has made all authorities dance to their tunes, including the police.
