'One man's food is another's poison' is the truism of the recent order of the High Court directing the authorities to crack the whip on noise pollution beyond 10 pm. While the many activists who waged the battle against sound pollution over several years are rejoicing, those doing business in the tourism industry and dependent on music and entertainment are staring at doom. The Goan hits the ground to assess the aftermath and discovers that the tourism entrepreneurs are eagerly banking on the government to come up with a 'middle path' solution to the deadlock.
TOURISM-RELATED BUSINESSES FACE GRIM SCENARIO WITH 10 PM CUT-OFF FOR AMPLIFIED MUSIC * CAN THERE BE A MIDDLE PATH?
The recent High Court-forced crackdown on sound pollution has once again posed an existential crisis for a significantly large quotient of Goa's tourism sector - the party scene and nightlife.
Nightlife, unarguably, has been a crucial component of Goa evolving into the partying destination it is and banning music beyond 10 pm kills it in a single stroke, many in the sector acknowledge.
Beach shacks, restaurants and open-air venues, many of which have live music gigs to entertain guests, could see their bottom and toplines hit hard, to the point of having to shut down.
It also places a huge question mark on the fate of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festivals and the impromptu rave parties which have over the last several years made Goa a big hit among tourists.
Goa's tryst with this problem of sound pollution dates back to the late 1990s and the early years at the turn of the millennium. The inertia of the establishment to act and enforce the laws forced activists to take recourse to the courts even as business owners and party organisers grudgingly used every trick in the book from bribing officials to winning over complainants to carry on their business.
Today, with the High Court cracking the whip and forcing the police to proactively halt the menace of loud music beyond 10 pm, there is little scope for these businesses to rely on this 'juggadd' to carry on with their activities in contravention of the law.
Police to the for'c'e
It all boiled down to the Men-in-uniform who were the favourite punching bags of both sides. The buck for violation of sound laws usually stopped at the doorstep of every police station.
But now with the High Court order, the top hierarchy has swung into action and as the number two in the Goa Police, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Omvir Singh, IPS, said, have gone about implementing the order in letter and spirit.
Three-member 'flying squads' have been formed for each police station jurisdiction, comprising the district Superintendent of Police, the Police Inspector and the police sub-inspector on duty. These flying squads will be responsible to ensure complaints are attended to, surprise checks are made and action is taken.
Other measures that the men-in-uniform have lined up include night patrolling and a dedicated control room to entertain noise pollution complaints.
GSPCB steps in too
The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) also stepped in and made it mandatory for organizers of 'open air' events to install online sound monitoring equipment and connect it to its server.
The GSPCB missive mandates event organisers at open-air venues catering to 50 and more people to take statutory permissions and adhere to the online sound monitoring norm.
"Public Address System, loudspeaker or any sound producing instrument or a musical instrument or a sound amplifier shall not be used in open areas without the prior permission of the Authority -- the concerned Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM)," the notice states.
Nightclubs unaffected
Goa's many nightclubs, however, will be unaffected by the latest crackdown on sound as their music and dance floors are mostly in sound-proof enclosures.
"Many years ago we acknowledged the right of citizens to peace devoid of noise at night and invested heavily to set up soundproof enclosures and move the action indoors in our clubs," said an owner of a top night club in North Goa.
But many other popular night spots in the Calangute-Anjuna-Arambol-Morjim belt, which are mostly not designed to block the sound from travelling, however, will have to shut down the 'noise' and as a corollary all activity beyond 10 pm.
"It (sound ban beyond 10 pm) is our death knell," said another popular restaurant owner in Anjuna.
Musicians worried too
It's not just business owners who fear loss of business. Goa's many artistes and musicians who perform regular gigs are worried too.
Rohit Almeida is a young musician who plays gigs at several restaurants in the State. According to him, restricting loud music to 10 pm has made it difficult for both restaurant owners and musicians, who normally do a three-hour shift with a break in between.
"The new rule means we will have to play between 7 pm and 10 pm. Who comes to dine at 7 pm?” Rohit asked.
“We need a law suitable to our needs and not borrow something from another state which has a different ethos and economy,” Rohit opined, adding that Goa is a tourism State with entertainment at its core.
Musicians like Rohit are self-employed and many of them feel that the new directive from the High Court will affect their livelihood in the long term. They want the government and lawmakers to step in and amend the law.
The government, according to them, must speak with musicians and restaurant owners and amend the statute because the 10 pm deadline is very unrealistic in a tourism-based State.
"A 11 pm deadline for restaurants and 12 pm deadline for weddings with prior permission would be more practical,” he adds.
Way forward?
Back in 2008, when a similar existential crisis hit the entertainment ecosystem due to the sound pollution laws, Goa's pop-star Remo Fernandes attempted an experiment where the amplifiers be dumped and performers go acoustic.
Remo had done a few acoustic gigs in Morjim and some other venues in North Goa but the attempt to take music acoustic in the tourism belt died a natural death proportionate decline in policing and enforcement of the sound laws.
Another experiment to beat the sound laws in yet another corner of Goa down south -- Palolem -- meanwhile achieved some success. A club styled itself 'Silent Noise' and began holding mute parties where revellers are given headphones with the option of choosing the music spun by DJs of their choice playing simultaneously in the House.
The club had 350 headphones and the partying went on till dawn. The club does business to date.
While the crackdown on sound violations beyond 10 pm is a welcome situation for the many residents and activists who for years had no option but to helplessly bear with disturbed nights, the tourism industry isn't smiling.
The ball is clearly in the court of the Pramod Sawant-led government which has been eagerly promoting tourism as the State's primary economic activity. It will have to intervene and come up with a legislative cure if necessary, to salvage the hen that lays Goa's golden egg, say many in the industry.
