MAPUSA
After years of being drowned out by thumping bass-lines and blaring speakers, residents of Anjuna and Colva may finally see some relief.
The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has ordered discreet inspections of air and noise levels in the coastal belts – an unprecedented step aimed at exposing the unchecked violations that power Goa’s booming nightlife industry.
Unlike routine checks where violators have time to ‘clean up’, board officials will now slip in unannounced to capture the true state of affairs.
According to officials, commercial units will be evaluated for compliance with noise regulations, the effectiveness of installed monitoring systems and their impact on the surrounding environment and communities.
“The noise doesn’t stop even at 3 am. Our children can’t sleep, our elders suffer, but complaints are brushed aside because of tourism money,” said a resident of Anjuna, who has filed multiple petitions over the years.
Locals allege that many clubs and commercial establishments either bypass or disable the mandatory sound monitoring systems, while others simply ignore noise caps.
“When enforcement teams visit, the music is turned down. The next night, its back to a rave,” said another villager, pointing to what he called “a nexus of impunity.”
By choosing surprise inspections instead of prior notices, the GSPCB hopes to catch violators red-handed.
“The intent is to ensure that pollution control devices are not merely on paper but actually functional,” a senior official said.
GSPCB Chairman Lavinson Martins has instructed that reports with findings and recommendations be filed by September 24.
A senior official has promised zero tolerance: “If serious violations are found, the units will be shut down immediately.”
Though the order is part of a wider inspection campaign across industries and waste treatment facilities in Goa, insiders admit that the real spotlight is on the coastal belts, where noise and air pollution have long been normalised as part of the ‘tourism economy’.
For residents who feel abandoned by authorities, this discreet crackdown is perhaps the first real chance at accountability.
“If they are serious, they’ll measure what we live with every night – the sleeplessness, the health issues, the destruction of peace,” said another local, “not the sanitised data that clubs feed them.”
Whether this marks the beginning of real enforcement or just another symbolic exercise will be known when the reports land later this month.
