There has always been a touch of lawlessness to certain aspects of Goa’s tourism industry. There have always been a few establishments that deem it normal to cross the line or step on people’s toes, all for the opportunity to earn more money. As competition
heats up and Goa’s becomes the go-to place for India’s party animals, the locals are the ones who usually end up with the short end of the stick. A case in point would be the recent petition by villagers from the northern village of Morjim, who have petitioned the chief minister, the chief secretary and the director general of police over the instances of loud music being played through the night and into the early hours of the morning. The antagonists
in this case are a few clubs in Morjim and Chapora, who are
even advertising for these late night parties via posters.
This is not the first complaint or petition about late night
music turning into a nuisance. The issue has been taken up for
years now and was the reason behind
the implementation of the Goa
amendment of the Madhya Pradesh
Sound Act in January 2005.
But for the 11 years since the Act
was implemented, things haven’t
always been rosy. The industry was
up in arms then, claiming that their
way of life would suffer. It really
hasn’t. Clubs and other establishments
who wished to extend their music-playing hours spent
money and enclosed their premises. The show went on.
The Sound Act dictates that no live music shall be played beyond
10 am. This applies to open air spaces. There are relaxed
rules during festivals and certain events, but by and large the
rules apply to everyone. Implementation and enforcement is
another thing altogether. A lot more needs to be done to enforce
the rules, but there is still a matter of specified decibel
levels that needs to be verified by a government authority, in
this case the Goa State Pollution Control Board.
As a state which relies on tourism as one of its main industries,
Goa certainly does need to cater to the crowd that wants
to stay up beyond 10 pm and not in a confined space. For a
state that has a large coastline and excellent vistas, there surely
needs to be some compromise in the Sound Act for areas
that are not inhabited.
Entertainment zones that have relaxed rules would be an
ideal solution to this, but that would mean that the government
of Goa has to work on incentives for restaurants and
clubs to move to these areas.
Morjim is one of the two places in Goa where Olive Ridley
Turtles come to nest, and hence is a protected zone. There is
also a small amount of local and migratory birds that visit the
area. Even if this wasn’t enough, no amount of entertainment
for tourists can ever compromise on the right to have a good
night’s sleep for people who live in the area.
The biggest group of, and the best, ambassadors for any
product are people. In this case, Goa and the restaurants who
play music beyond permissible limits and time, cannot afford
to alienate them. Solutions must be worked on. Regulatory
and enforcement agencies need to convene on the drawing
board. In the meanwhile, the government of Goa needs to ensure
that this petition is but the last of its kind.
