MARGAO
As the authorities brace up to tighten the screws on sound pollution and crack a whip on the violators with the help of the Goa Police, owners of open-air venues from Saxtti countryside were called by Margao Deputy Collector Uday Prabhudesai with a message loud and clear “ wind up sound and music at 10 pm as per sound pollution norms.
Owners of open-air venues saw the writing on the wall after the meeting with the deputy Collector that playing music at the outdoor venues is out of question with immediate effect, sending the owners into a tizzy with a host of outdoor events lined up during the year-end, with Christmas and New Year festivities round the corner.
The Deputy Collector in the presence of the in-charges of police stations in Salcete is believed to have pointed out that since the High Court is monitoring the sound pollution, the law should be adhered to strictly.
Says Deputy Collector Uday Prabhudesai: “I have only briefed the open-air venue owners that permissions for outdoor events will be issued as per the law in force, i.e. by 10 pm. My office is in receipt of the High Court order on sound pollution and I have explained to the owners that music can be played outdoors up to 10 pm.”
The owners of open-air venues, however, explained that the 10 pm deadline, if implemented, will affect all outdoor family events, including musical evenings and dances organised on Christmas and New Year.
“Goa is a tourism State. If music is shut at 10 pm, hotels, restaurants, caterers, music bands etc will all be affected. This will pose a serious concern for Tourism,” asserted hotelier Dixon Vaz.
He added: “The stakeholders are all self-employed in this business, eking a living, right from the open-air venue owners, to caterers, decorators, musicians etc.”
Dixon, who is the sarpanch of the tourist village of Cavelossim, made a strong case for permission at least up to 11 pm to hold the traditional Goan weddings and Christmas programmes such as carol singing, one-act play etc.
"No one plays loud music for weddings and cultural programmes," Dixon hoped the government comes out with an Amendment on sound pollution to ensure that music is permitted only on special occasions to maintain the traditions.
Will sound timing impact midnight mass services?
MARGAO:
With the Deputy Collector, Margao inviting the owners of the open-air venues at his office on Monday to brief them on the sound timings, questions are being raised over the midnight mass services at Churches across the State on the occasion of Christmas and New Year.
Most of the Parishes in Goa hold the Christmas mass at midnight, celebrating the birth of Lord Jesus, outdoors in their compounds. So far, the deputy Collector has only called the owners of open venues for discussion on the implementation of sound pollution norms. But, questions are indeed being raised over the traditional Christmas Mass and the events, including musical evenings, one-act plays and Carol singing programmes organised at the Parishes as part of the week-long celebrations.
Episcopal Vicar, South Goa Fr Lucio Dias said Churches across the State have been holding their Christmas Mass outdoors at midnight over the years.
“We do not know whether the sound pollution norms will affect the Church services this year. We will try to get clarity on the midnight Masses. I am of the opinion the government should step in and allow the Mass service on Christmas Day and New year outdoors,” Fr Lucio said.
Organisers of traditional Christmas dances in a fix
THE GOAN NETWORK
MARGAO
With no clarity forthcoming on the use of sound late at night even on special occasions such as Christmas and New Year festivities, the sound pollution norms have cast doubts on the traditional dances, leaving the organisers to keep their fingers crossed over the events in the ensuing season.
Organisers are keeping their fingers crossed on what lies in store for them this ensuing season with the High Court monitoring the sound pollution in the contempt petition.
A dance organiser pointed out that he does not want to take any risk this time around in the absence of clarity.
“I do not want to burn my fingers and suffer losses by holding the dance if the authorities will stop outdoor music by midnight,” he said.
President of Betalbatim Sports Club Boney Pereira said the club was gearing up to hold its 34th annual Christmas midnight dance at Betalbatim.
“Today, our club members met to take stock of the situation amid the recent developments. We hope the government gives relaxation to traditional events, including dances on Christmas night,” he said.
Boney added: “I feel the government should step in to give relaxation in the timings since Christmas dance has been part of the tradition. The proceeds of our dance are spent on promoting football and sporting activities in the village.”
Dance organiser Dean D’Souza, who has been organising dances coinciding with Christmas, echoed similar sentiments.
“The sound pollution norm is clear that outdoor music has to wind up by 10 pm. On special occasions, the permissions are extended till midnight,” he said.
Dean, however, pointed out that it would be pointless to hold the Christmas dance if the authorities are bracing up to stop music at midnight.
“For, he said the Christmas midnight Mass gets over after 1 am. In such a scenario, it would be pointless to hold such a big event if the music will be shut by 12 midnight,” he said.
Given the situation, with just 12 days to go for Christmas, the dance organisers find themselves in a fix on how to go about the matter.
“If we apply for the permission, the authorities will grant the permission till midnight for the Christmas dance. But, can we have a dance with the midnight timings when the Christmas dance only starts after 1.30 am,” he added.
We are serious on clamping down on dance bars: Calangute sarpanch
MAPUSA:
Objecting to the culture of dance bars in the beach village, Calangute sarpanch Joseph Sequeira on Monday said the panchayat was very serious about taking action against the dance bars operating illegally in Calangute and expected support from the government in the matter.
Sequeira also said he along with the panchayat members would approach the chief minister again and discuss the entire matter threadbare to resolve the problem once and for all.
“We are very serious about taking action against the dance bars and shutting their operations in Calangute. Although we met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant a week back and informed him about the situation, we will meet him again and explain to him the sentiments of the locals,” Sequeira said.
A little over a week back, the sarpanch along with some panchayat members had inspected some restaurants/clubs that were allegedly operating dance bars on their premises and warned them to shut down the activity.
But despite the warning, the pubs continued to operate the dance bars illegally.
On Saturday, some locals along with the Calangute BJP Block President Yashwant Kandolkar ‘raided’ a pub late in the night and found at least a dozen women dancing in the pub.
After the raid, the locals rushed to the Calangute Police Station to complain the pub.
