PANAJI
In a bizarre case, the Pernem Deputy Collector, Deepak Vaigankar, has issued a controversial venue at Ashvem permission to use amplified sound for outdoor events for the whole of the current month -- March 1 to 31 -- in one go.
The permission issued by Vaigankar, however, limits the use of the sound between 4 pm and 10 pm while also specifying that the ambient sound in the periphery shall not exceed 55 decibels.
The permission granted to one Abdulla Bardila, a resident of Siolim, is meant for entertainment or public function at Azule Ocean Front at Ashvem-Mandrem and states that the party will have to separately apply for permission to hold the 'open air' event at the venue from competent authorities.
Vaigankar also cites the nod granted by the Pernem sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) vide an NOC issued by his office on March 1. Several other standard conditions have also been imposed.
This blanket sound permission granted by Vaigankar for the whole month of March comes close on the heels of the recent controversy of loud music and disturbances affecting the turtle nesting activity which is currently peak season.
In early March, the Bombay High Court at Goa too had ordered a crackdown on beach parties in the vicinity nesting sites and also recommended a study on the impact of beach parties around these protected turtle nesting sites at Morjim and Ashvem.
“These are highly vulnerable locations because there are very few places around the globe where such sites remain. Literature suggests that the Olive Ridley Turtles have been coming to these few and chosen sites for thousands of years for nesting. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to state that these are natural heritage sites, if not natural wonders,” a bench of Justices M S Sonak and B P Deshpande had said in the first week of March.
