Phew, it’s over, and what a relief. The Christmas and New Year festivities have concluded with only rather little noise pollution. The relative silence that covered the festivals was a welcome relief.
Of course, it was not totally silent. There were a few crackers burst around midnight on both the days. (More from the tourist belt during New Year, it would seem.) But nothing like we have come to know in recent times. Certainly, this is a welcome development.
Some days back, one heaved a public sigh of relief, online, about the lower number of crackers used during Christmas. At that time, friends who were sceptical said the noise would come up for New Year. For a little while around midnight, on New Year’s eve, things seemed to be going that way, but quickly returned to normal. Thanks for that.
The Bombay high court bench in Goa has been seized with this issue for some time now. The wheels of justice take time to ensure the law is implemented, but sometimes this can have its impact.
In December 2021, the high court had ordered continuous night patrolling by the local intelligence bureau, beat staff and sub-divisional night duty offers. The goal was specifically to curb and control noise pollution. News reports then credited Justices Revati Mohite Dere and MS Jawalkar with the action, which included a dedicated telephone line, 112, on which noise pollution complaints could be made.
This only goes to show that, if there is a will, there will indeed be the way. But our politicians often like to pretend that they are helpless, that “people” anyway want the festive noise, and hence they can do nothing about it.
But this is simply not true.
In fact, there is reason to believe that our political class go out of the way to subvert the system. After all, they have much more to gain by allowing some noise-makers and vested interests to get ahead with such nasty acts. Who cares for wider public inconvenience?
There are two ways in which politicians manipulate the issue.
Firstly, politicians tend to take sides. In today’s polarised world, they don’t mind if “their” supporters make noise and disturb the rest. Even if this is a small (but organised) group. Most celebrants make sure they have some political godfather, to whom they could go when their noise becomes a nuisance.
Secondly, and what is even worse, some politicians seem to be instigating noise-makers. During some festivals, it is clear that the money for the noisy fireworks comes from the political class. They can use this cheap popularity to get political support when needed. This is the main reason why some locality have far higher noise-levels, and this clearly depends on the politicians there.
Loudspeakers and firecrackers, and high levels of noise, have come to be an integral part of our festivals. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, AHK (Außenhandelskammer, or the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad) has done a study on the impact of festivals (in India) on the environment.
This land of festivals, which celebrates so much --- changing seasons, harvests, reconciliation, birth anniversaries of religious persons, and in honour of gods and goddesses. Not surprisingly, the great “pomp and show” also goes hand in hand with noise pollution, water pollution, air pollution, generation of dry wastes, and worse. For instance, religious statues are even embellished with paints that have lethal lead, mercury and chromium.
We have a lot of “Festivals of Noise” these days. Unfortunately, there is a competition between different localities and religious groups to see who can -- literally -- make the most noise.
There are so many laws on paper to control this. The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000 lay down that firecrackers cannot be burst in ‘silent zones’ (designated by the State government) and anywhere after 10 pm. From 6 am to 10 pm, in daytime, firecracker noise cannot exceed 75dB(A). dB refers to decibel; A is the weight scale for human perception of loudness, and Leq refers to the time-average.
One can file a complaint under the above. Besides, judges have also told the State that it needs to take action before it’s too late, and not just depend on arresting those who burst the fire crackers.
All these laws and rules have been created. But most remain only on paper, and few citizens might be aware of the same. For instance, see http://t.ly/47d1l for The Noise Pollution (Control and Regulation) Rules 2000 as applicable to Goa.
This extension of Goa to the rules defines industrial, commercial and residential areas, and also ‘silence zones’. It also lists who are the officials one can approach with complaints (now the list is dated). But very few citizens would be aware of such options to complain and seek action.
The trend has been set. Now, we should expect -- nay, demand -- something better and reduced festive noise pollution. It’s time to make noise over noise.
Goa has a good record on some fronts. For instance, its roads do not have many horn-blowing vehicles as other parts of India have. We should keep it that way, and work to improve the situation.
Citizen campaigners like Floriano Lobo of Moira have taken up such issues (of noise pollution) in the past, and also get some action over the same.
While undertaking these campaigns, extra care should be taken to ensure that the same are neutrally enforced. Otherwise, we will only be competing over who can make the most noise, and we will end up worse off. After all, this is for everyone’s good. Including the environment’s.
