In response to the high court’s call, the Goa State Pollution Control Board has closed two businesses and issued warnings to four others for hosting loud music parties late at night along the Anjuna-Vagator coastal belt in north Goa.
Using an online noise monitoring system it set up in response to orders from the Bombay high court, the pollution control board said in its notice that hotels and clubs playing loud music were “found violating the permissible noise levels.” The board’s campaign against these establishments began at the beginning of Goa’s busiest travel season.
In addition to complaining about the establishments, the people of Anjuna village have petitioned the high court for contempt, claiming that the authorities have failed to take action against the clubs, motels, and restaurants that play loud music late at night. In this instance, about a dozen local businesses are also responders.
The Bombay High Court in Goa ordered the Goa police “to ensure that no such music is played outdoors beyond 10 p.m.” in May of last year while considering many petitions against the ongoing noise pollution caused by party venues in Anjuna. This injunction was not being followed, according to the contempt plea.
The pollution control board was given a week to connect the Anjuna police station to the board’s live noise monitoring system outside clubs, according to a ruling made by the bench of justices Valmiki Menezes and Nivedita Mehta during a hearing on November 21. The police requested the directive, stating that each time someone complained about loud music, they had to write to the pollution control organisation to collect noise statistics.
Clubs and other businesses expressed concern about how the heightened surveillance may affect their operations.The livelihood of the residents of Anjuna is reliant on tourism, according to restaurant owner Carlos Fernandes.
“There won’t be any consumers if there is no music. The complainants are threatening to submit charges as early as 7 or 7:30 p.m. for loud music, but we are willing to adhere to the 10 p.m. deadline,” Fernandes stated. There have long been complaints about noise pollution in Anjuna and the nearby hamlets of Vagator and Ozrant.