MAPUSA
By 10 pm wedding music is silenced without mercy. Bands pack up and celebrations end – by law.
Along the northern coastal belt, 10 pm is when the party begins.
This weekend, as Saturday rolled into Sunday, techno beats thundered across Vagator and Anjuna.
Venues such as Jungle Origen and Masaya at Ozran and Aura Beach Café in South Anjuna hosted packed, all-night parties, drawing hundreds of patrons.
The music spilled across hillsides and beaches, travelling far beyond venue limits and into residential pockets.
For locals, sleep was once again a casualty.
There was a brief pause. Around 9 pm, a Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) official was seen patrolling the stretch. Almost instantly, the music dipped. Silence returned – but it was just momentary. When the official left the music surged back.
“Everyone knows when inspections happen. The music stops for show and resumes the moment officials leave. This is enforcement in name only,” said Desmond Alvares, a long-time noise pollution campaigner.
At Jungle Origen, an open-air venue carved into a hill overlooking the sea, the party continued full-blown.
Locals allege the venue operates without clear permissions and is located on comunidade land, issues previously flagged. Elaborate installations, heavy sound systems and floodlighting transformed the hilltop into a high-decibel nightlife hub.
“They say it’s far from homes. But sound doesn’t care about distance. At night, it carries and hits hard,” said Ozran resident Nilesh Mandrekar.
What angers residents is not just the noise, but its predictability. Events are advertised openly on social media days in advance, often promising music till dawn.
“Tourists aren’t at fault. They come because these parties are promoted openly. The failure is enforcement,” Mandrekar said.
The pattern extends beyond Anjuna. Along the Calangute–Baga belt, residents allege that influential clubs and restaurants routinely flout the 10 pm deadline, sometimes bursting fireworks well past midnight.
John Lobo, General Secretary of the Shack Owners’ Welfare Society, pointed to the double standard.
“All shacks stop music at 10 pm. But some clubs play till morning. Weddings are shut down instantly. The law should be the same for everyone,” Lobo said.
A retired senior police officer, speaking anonymously, said the problem is not legal ambiguity but administrative will.
“The noise pollution rules are clear. What’s missing is consistent action.
When violators know penalties are unlikely, the system fails,” he said.
With Sunday night unlikely to be quieter, residents are bracing for more of the same. Jungle Origen has advertised parties on February 7 and 8. Istorea By The Sea promises music from 9 pm to 9 am. Dynamo plans to go on till 5 am, while Raeeth has lined up another all-night event.
As the music plays on along Goa’s coast, the contrast grows sharper: weddings are silenced by the clock, but nightlife seems to operate by a different rulebook – one where 10 pm is merely a suggestion.
