PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa issued show-cause notices to five commercial establishments in the Anjuna police station jurisdiction in view of numerous complaints about noise pollution, particularly regarding music played beyond the permissible limit of 10 pm.
The Bench, comprising Justice M S Karnik and Justice Valmiki Menezes, named these establishments as respondent parties and directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board to monitor their activities.
During the hearing on Friday which is when the order was expected, Anjuna police submitted to the Court list of 31 establishments reporting violation of sound norms of which over 10 calls against each of 15 establishments were made from July 1 to August 28 while others had fewer than 10.
The highest number of 53 noise pollution complaints was against Diaz Pool Club & Bar followed by Noah Goa in Ozrant, Vagator (51 complaints), Thalassa in Vaddy-Siolim (26 complaints), Bar Hifi in Chapora (25 complaints) and Raeeth in Ozrant (18 complaints).
The court also approved the government proposal for monitoring noise pollution and designating supervising authorities. Three patrolling teams from Anjuna police have been constituted and will be equipped with decibel meters to check for violations of permissible noise limits and unauthorized music after 10 pm.
AG Pangam said that citizens can report violations directly to these teams on the mobile numbers that have been made public, and if no action is taken, matter can be escalated to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer.
Surprise inspections will also be conducted as part of this initiative. This measure, Pangam further said, is in addition to the routine duties of noise pollution complaints handled at the local police station level. The case has been adjourned to September 4.
