A retreat house at Baga is bearing the brunt of loud music and nobody seems to care. Xavier Retreat House has knocked the doors of Calangute police station squarely pointing towards five shacks that are playing high decibel music till the wee hours of the morning. The most unfortunate part is that Calangute PI Jivba Dalvi doesn’t find any truth in the complaint of Director of Xavier Retreat House.
It is common knowledge that loud music has been going on along the beach belt since decades and it shouldn’t surprise anyone either on why the police cannot hear the high decibels beyond 10 pm. Party organisers and shack owners along the beach belt in the North have been well-attuned to the system and ways to bypass it. Where the sound ban is applied selectively and enforced without impunity for weddings and private parties. Where the will of the law enforcers is self-driven and there is no need of a complaint.
Lest we forget the Independence Day extended weekend break last year where tourists were running amok with late night rave parties in full flow right under the nose of the men in uniform. It was at this time that the death of two young tourists, who fell to a suspected drug overdose, literally pushed the policemen on their toes. The famous party zone along the Anjuna-Vagator beach belt was locked down. Late night parties were banned, there was a massive crackdown on music beyond 10 pm and the peace along the coast seemed to have returned.
The question that comes to the fore is whether police are acting only on specific complaints on a day-to-day basis or waiting for tragedy to strike. What happens to those parties that scream through the night on a daily basis where all and sundry have given up their fight against the shack-police nexus? Dalvi’s denial of late night music is like the Chief Minister denying that rave parties happen in Goa. Does the PI expect the director of the spiritual centre to give him a call everyday complaining about the loud music?
We know that Jivba Dalvi is lying that he has found no loud music after verification. The Calangute PI must understand that he can fool some people sometimes, not all the people all the time. There are people, mostly youth, from across Goa, who party here. The least the police could do is respect the word of the head of this spiritual centre who had the courage to name five shacks playing loud music till 4 am.
It is a shame to the police that even a member of the High Court-appointed committee to oversee the implementation of the Noise Pollution Rules has not only confirmed that the music continues to be played till early morning, but has also exposed how the MLAs have been linked.
The retreat house dates back to 1952 and has not cropped up overnight. There are people from all walks of life seeking solitude, peace and spiritual upliftment. The law keepers have failed in their duties in maintaining such an environment and have comfortably positioned themselves on the side where the money is.
