PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Monday directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board, the District Authorities and other noise pollution monitoring authorities to crackdown on sound pollution violations including confiscation of equipment, sealing of the premises and other measures to bring the menace to a stop.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by Arnold D’Sa who has been championing the cause of noise pollution within the jurisdiction of the Anjuna village panchayat as well as in the beach stretches of Morjim, Mandrem and Ashvem.
The authorities have been directed to conduct joint inspections, surprise raids and other forms of monitoring and submit a report before the court.
D’Sa’s petition, based on which several parties were cancelled last tourist season, has prompted the High Court to observe that the authorities are not at all interested in cracking down on the menace.
“The authorities are duty bound to ensure that no such music is played outdoors beyond 10pm. Accordingly, we direct the officials from the GSPCB, concerned Deputy Collectors and SDPOs (Sub Divisional Police Officers) to firstly verify whether any permissions are at all granted to the organisers to hold such shows/events outdoors and, if so, to ensure that under no circumstances they continue with such events/shows beyond 10 pm. If no permissions are granted, then such shows/events must be stopped,” the High Court had while commenting on the matter in November last year.
“At least, prima facie, indicates that the police authorities are bent upon not taking action against the violators of the noise pollution rules framed by the Government itself, the High Court observed. As noted by us in our earlier orders, the police deny such incidents in the first place and, when such incidents are undeniable, come up with pleas that music was being played indoors or that music actually terminated by 10 pm.
Further, the police authorities are under the firm impression that they are not obliged to act against clubs which are involved in violation of the noise rules unless there is a written complaint. This means that even if the beat staff or the staff of the police station hears the loud music, they think that it is not their duty to take any action. It is for the DGP to disabuse the police officials in these police stations of this incorrect impression,” the bench of Justices M S Sonak and Valmiki Sa Menezes had said while commenting on the matter in May this year.
