Why is the North Goa administration NOT stopping these parties, ask Goans

Perhaps the biggest casualty of COVID has been the behaviour of COVID Idiots, a phrase firmly etched in the lexicon of these COVID times. But can you only blame the organisers of these parties who are endangering lives and the people, many of them foreigners, who have thrown all social distancing and safety norms as they drink and dance away? How are the North Goa police and the district administration allowing these parties or worse still pretend that they do not know?Reports of parties going on undisturbed are appearing regularly. Herald Café has reported on this twice. Two party hotspots along the beach in Anjuna organised parties with DJ’s for a select crowd this weekend None of the partygoers wore masks or maintained the required social distance but instead preferred to groove to the music. At these parties, it is not unusual to see a mix of locals and tourists partying. The government has been going hoarse talking about the importance of maintaining socials distance but it seems unable to maintain a distance from those who hold these parties and those who organize them. Interestingly one of the clubs organizing these parties is less than a kilometre from the Anjuna police station. Vincent Baracho an ordinary Goan who has been watching the proceedings in the state with growing disbelief said “One has to remember money can be earned without flouting the prescribed norms laid down by the government. Here it is obvious the government is allowing it to be broken. The police are not doing what they are meant to be doing. It looks like they are abetting the virus. Sounds harsh but that seems to be the truth”. Paresh Kolwalkar an artist who flits between Goa and Mumbai said it was important to ask as to which political party was involved in the parties being organised. He said “Why are the police not initiating any action and importantly why are gram panchayats not making a noise to save their villages from the spread of the virus? Is it because Goan culture apparently is about partying nonstop and it would be a problem if any changes were made. All I can say is God help Goa”. Nikhil Shah felt the problem could be somewhere else. He said “The guidelines are not very clear and perhaps what is needed is an enforcement agency which has all the authority to step in and stop these activities immediately. We need someone with that power to do it. Right now the police may not have the authority to stop a party”.  This surely is not the case though. However Melwyn Veigas a lawyer based in Panjim was blunt when he said it appeared there was a nexus between the two parties. He said “ The government is not cracking down and unless they and the police get proactive nothing will happen. You have to understand people are growing increasingly frustrated having to stay at home and more and more people will go out for such parties increasing the problem. It is a case of now or never but it remains to be seen if they will initiate any action.” Sunita Rodrigues said “It is the educated uneducated that are at the forefront of such endeavours. These same people would follow the rules of another country if they went there on a holiday. Yet there is some sort of VIP status attached to one that does not get picked up for breaking the rules. Covid19 is a real and present danger. If that is not incentive enough then I don’t know what is” Sonia Pandit a student who has been a part of such parties in the past. She said “I used to attend these parties with cousins and friends in the past and it used to be fun and quite an intense experience. I know people who live for these parties but I don’t anymore. It is just not worth the risk. After a drink or two, no one will maintain social distancing. Parties at home don’t follow these protocols”. Many young singles and couples were going a bit crazy staying at home on weekends and she said the dam could burst one day and people would go out and just ignore the protocols. That is a scenario that could be too dreadful to contemplate. Perhaps the government should follow its own rules and clamp down on these parties for the welfare of its people. Isn’t that why they were elected in the first place.