Sound permissions for a month, but who's monitoring?

THE GOAN NETWORK | MARCH 20, 2023, 11:03 PM IST

The party continues! Despite the raps from the High Court of Bombay at Goa, including strictures against a resort at Ashvem, Mandrem, for playing loud music beyond the stipulated time, the Pernem deputy collector has surprisingly granted permissions to play amplified music for another Ashvem club for the entire month of March. Usually, permission for such extended periods is given for a crowd restriction of 50 people.

The deputy collector, on paper, has restricted the use of amplified sound between 4 pm and 10 pm in a series of 'don'ts', and also mentions that the ambient sound in the periphery shall not exceed 55 decibels but seems oblivious to what's happening on the ground.

Sadly, there have been gross violations against the set order till now, and the enforcement has been failing as usual, with parties continuing till the wee hours of the morning. Also, there have been no restrictions on attendance and amplified sound. And, to top it all, this venue is not far away from the resort that recently got a court rap for showing complete disregard for the ecology and habitats of Olive Ridley turtles.

Ironically, the court had put the onus on the deputy collector in the earlier case, directing him to consider whether any permission should be granted to establishments frequently breaching the noise pollution rules and regulations. The court had also hauled up police for failing to act on the premise of not receiving a complaint while directing the police to play a proactive role and take action as per law.

While the High Court had spelt out the need to protect the State's treasures and heritage and provide a safe habitat to the Olive Ridley turtles, no authorities seem to show any concern. The court criticisms appear to have fallen on deaf ears, and the systemic insensitivity is as clear as daylight.

At least one expected authorities to respect the court's observations and maintain some sanctity while issuing licences. Sadly lessons have not been learnt, and even though over a dozen pre-conditions have been attached to the approval, the failure to monitor the party zones cuts out a sorry figure of enforcement just like the shallow promises of ministers threatening action against those disturbing turtle conservation sites.

The pre-conditions make no sense if compliance is not monitored, and the whole protocol becomes a farce when amplified music goes on uninterrupted till the early hours of the next day. Are the police still awaiting a complaint? Or, have the pollution control board given up the chase of monitoring sound?

The deputy collector has granted permissions and must hold responsibility for violations. In a recent observation, the high court had stated that the chief secretary must fix accountability on those prima facie responsible for dereliction of duties and indicate whether action should be taken against officials like District Magistrate, Deputy Collector and SDPO.

Now that the deputy collector has issued permissions, he is duty-bound to seek compliance and closely monitor the situation. Failure to curb rampant sound violations reeks of a complete system failure and shows the helplessness of ordinary citizens.


Share this