It was heartening to learn that a 3-member flying squad has been constituted by the Goa police to tackle noise pollution by hotels playing loud music in the open beyond the 10 pm deadline in the coastal belt of North Goa. All credit goes to the High court in Goa for taking up the matter on a war footing, after the concerned authorities failed to address the several complaints by the residents in the coastal belt who have been having sleepless nights over the past several years. People of Goa are known to abide by the laws of the state. Even the timing of the church Angelus bell which used to be sounded earlier at 5. 30 am was changed to 6 am in keeping with the 10pm-6 am noise restriction law by the Supreme court. Somehow, Goa being a tourist destination, the law was never enforced by the authorities, resulting in all-night open air rave parties belting out high decibel music till the wee hours of the morning. A tough approach by the police is needed if we are really serious about the problem.
