MAPUSA
With authorities breathing down their neck to stop playing loud music after 10 pm, some hoteliers and nightclub owners have found a novel way of keeping the fire burning in their premises by blasting the music early in the morning and before 10 pm.
This new trick is playing out along the Anjuna-Vagator coastal belt while in Calangute-Baga coastline it is relatively quiet. Even the shack operators stick to the rules and lower the music volume much before the 10 pm deadline.
“To a certain extent the music dies down after 10 pm but it is blasted before that. When we sit down for a meal at around 9 pm the cutlery on the table starts to vibrate with the loud bass music played by some outlets around. We have been complaining to the police but to no avail,” said Wayne Pereira, a resident of Assagao, who shows a thick dossier of complaints made to various authorities.
He said whenever police arrive at the spot the music stops and the moment they leave it starts again clearly indicating that the authorities are hand-in gloves with the club owners.
“Why don’t the police seize the sound equipment like they do in Mumbai? That way the mischief makers will learn a lesson not to repeat the offense,” he said.
According to a resident of Anjuna, Ramesh Naik, the music has come down in the night but to offset the loss some hotel and club owners have taken permission to play music early in the morning.
“From as early as 6 am they start blasting the music disturbing the early morning peace. Several students who study in the mornings are inconvenienced by the new nuisance,” said Naik, who is the chairman of the village bio-diversity management committee.
He said locals desist from such activities and mostly outsiders who have the power to grease the palms of the authorities were involved in playing the loud music.
A resident of Chapora, Michael D’Souza concurs with Naik and said that sometimes the music starts as early as 5 in the morning.
He said the club owners use the High Court order to their advantage even as the authorities conveniently look the other way.
The Calangute-Baga area has seen a sea change in loud music with even the reckless shack operators falling in line.
“After 10 pm, the music has completely stopped. In fact, even at 8 or 9 pm, very little music is played now. In the past, there was virtually competition among them to play loud music but all that has stopped,” said Fr Augustine Fernandes, the in-charge of Xavier Retreat House, Baga.
“It’s very nice and peaceful. People are also very happy about it,” he added, hoping that this will continue.
