MARGAO
Salcete and down South may be relatively free from the menace of rave parties and late-night music compared to the North Goa coast. However, the echo of the High Court order on noise pollution and loud music has been felt loud and clear along the Saxtti coastal belt and down South with overzealous Men-in-uniform out on the ground to implement the court order.
As the High Court crackdown on loud music has triggered a raging debate over the late-night music and rave parties, there’s a common refrain among the stakeholders in Salcete and down South – Why club South Goa with the rave parties and loud music and punish them for the wrongdoings that are more seen in the North than in the South?
As the High Court order seeks to tighten the screws on late-night loud music, local stakeholders down South fear the worst, fearing the order may adversely affect outdoor events such as weddings, cultural programmes such as tiatr, musical evenings, birthday parties et al held without loud music.
What has left the stakeholders a worried lot is that the law on sound pollution does not distinguish between North and South Goa as it is applied and enforced uniformly across the State at 10 pm.
Small and medium hotelier Serafino Cota was point blank in saying that the small and medium hoteliers and other small stakeholders will be hit.
“The small and medium hoteliers are in a fix over the High Court order. We have never played loud music in our establishments. As hoteliers for responsible and sustainable tourism, we have been holding small parties for our guests with light music,” he said.
Serafino added: “We used to adjust here and there by playing music for weddings by half an hour extra, but with low decibel sound. We stakeholders in down South may now suffer as the authorities may club all the events relating to sound and music together.”
He blamed successive governments for their failure to design a better music policy to promote culture and traditions and put a firm stop to late-night music.
“If the USA has banned repeated beat music, why should Goa have such music through these festivals? Tourism may suffer for some time, but Goa will get quality tourists in the long run,” Serafino added.
Cavelossim sarpanch and small hotelier Dixon Vaz echoed similar sentiments by saying South Goa enjoys the status of a family tourism destination. “We have not come across late-night music along the South Goa coastal belt. Our beach belt is a family destination, where wedding and birthday parties are held with light music. And, whenever attempts were made to introduce late-night music parties in the recent past, the people and the cops have nipped such concept in the bud,” he said.
He added: “There’s fear and anxiety in the minds of the tourism stakeholders along the Salcete belt about what lies in store for them in the coming days. Though the High Court has issued the order given the parties and loud music in the North, we stakeholders in South Goa have begun feeling the heat.”
High Court lawyer Adv Cleofato Coutinho asserted that the law is clear that music has to stop at the specified hour and is applied uniformly. He, however, said the Goa State Pollution Control Board’s (GSPCB) decision to go for sound monitoring units at the outdoor venues can offer a solution to the fears and anxiety of the stakeholders and people from down South.
“What the stakeholders and people, in general, are looking forward to is a few extra minutes to wind up the wedding reception from 10 pm maybe 10.30 pm or 11 pm. If the GSPCB monitoring system functions effectively, it can provide this relaxation in timings with reduced decibels,” Adv Coutinho said.
He, however, said the law should come down heavily on rave parties and late-night parties.
“The rave parties are banned in the USA and UK on the assumption they promote drugs. Why have such a culture of repeated beat music in Goa? It has to stop immediately, though the government can make a case for relaxation in timings for traditional and cultural events,” he said.
Adv Coutinho conceded that a full stop to the rave parties and late-night music may affect the tourist flow, but the government of the day cannot overlook such blatant illegalities, more so when they are perceived as promoting drug culture.
