Devendra Prabhudesai is a Physical Education teacher at St Francis Xavier School in Siolim. His school’s teams are often winners in the inter-school championships. But Prabhudesai is also acutely aware of the importance of studies for his students. That is why he is the convenor of the Pernem Swabhimani Sanghatana (PSS), a citizen’s group that is fighting hard to stop the loud late night parties at which tourists swing to mega-decibel Electronic Dance Music (EDM) till the wee hours, sometimes even through the night, and prevent local students from studying or even getting a decent night’s sleep.
But so far, his organisation’s pleas are having little or no effect on the administration. Prabhudesai and Prasad Shahapurkar, Secretary of the PSS, have made innumerable rounds of the offices of those tasked with regulating loudspeakers and implementing the law on sound pollution.
To no avail.
Shahapurkar says that sometimes government officials assure that they will take action. But, within a few days, the situation is back to ‘normal’. He believes that there is political pressure not to act against these parties.
In November, the committee appointed by the government on the directions of the Bombay High Court to monitor sound pollution in Pernem, in which Shahapurkar and Nivrutti Shirodkar are members, met the District Magistrate, the North Goa Collector and the Pernem Deputy Collector, demanding that orders be issued to stop parties where music is played beyond the permissible limit.
Nothing happened.
Frustrated by the total indifference of the authorities, on Tuesday 6 January 2015, PSS members staged a rasta-roko to register their protest over the increasing noise pollution. Did the police act against those breaking the law? Yes they did, but not against the noise polluters. Instead of shutting down the monstrous 25,000 Watt speakers, Pernem police registered a case against the protestors for creating a road blockade in Morjim! Prabhudessai, Shahapurkar, Shirodkar and eight other were booked under Sections 143, 341 read with 149 of IPC.
On Thursday 26 February 2015, officials of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) inspected resorts and clubs in Ashvem for sound pollution. All that the officials would say is that during the day, up to 75 decibels sound is permitted, while during the night, it is 65 decibels. No action has been taken following this inspection.
The PSS is not against tourism. But it wants tourists that stay and patronize local businesses. Most of the EDM fans, Prabhudesai complains, are not those that live in the area, but come on hired motorcycles from other parts of Goa, causing congestion on the narrow local roads. They contribute little or nothing to the local economy, he says, and are mainly a source of nuisance.
Bright lights and loud music have been blamed for the sharp drop in nesting by Olive Ridley turtles.
According to the Forest Department, only four Olive Ridley turtles visited the state from January till June 2014 and laid just 842 eggs.
But this is not turtles we are talking about. This is Goa’s students. Our Generation Next. Our Hope. Our future.
It is March. The all-important HSSC exams are underway. The SSC exams are round the corner. But has the noise from parties stopped? No, it is more of the same. Does it shut down at 10pm? No, it still goes on all night.
The citizens have now reached the end of their tether. They recently held a meeting at the chapel in Ashvem, which resolved that if the police do not stop the parties, the citizens will be compelled to take the law in their own hands and do it themselves. A memorandum demanding that parties with loud music be disallowed, as it disturbs students who are studying for their exams, has been handed over to Pernem Deputy Collector Narayan Gad by Morjim sarpanch Vaishali Shetgaonkar.
Mandrem is Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar’s constituency. It is here that this epic tussle between ordinary citizens and greedy, unscrupulous businessmen is playing itself out. We urge the state’s chief executive to intervene and ensure that those putting pressure on the administration not to take action against the sound polluters are neutralized, and the officials are told do their jobs. It is for the Chief Minister to come to the rescue of the children of his voters. Their futures are at stake. And so, by extension, is his.
