SALIGAO: The High Court in its July 12 order may have asked the Pollution Control Board to ensure that there is a proper monitoring of noise pollution violations.
However, the knotty bureaucracy has its own take on who the monitor of sound pollution is, claiming clearly that it is not them.
This is what the High Court said in its recent direction in the contempt petition filed by Desmond Alvares.
“It is also alleged that there is no proper monitoring of violations despite the mechanism being in place. We request the Government advocate Shri Salkar to place this application for consideration before the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) and upon inquiry initiate appropriate action against such violations,” read the HC order.
But the GSPCB Chairman has made it clear that his institution – The Goa State Pollution Control Board – is not supposed to set up the monitoring system to monitor sound pollution.
“It is the duty of the Collector and Police to see that noise monitoring systems are set up by establishments hosting parties. This is very clear in the Amended Noise Action Plan,” said Mahesh Patil, GSPCB Chairman.
The High Court did quite appear to see it that way. During the hearing held on July 11, 2024, Justice Valmiki Menezes had asked Adv Salkar why noise monitoring systems were not being implemented or the reason for the delay in their implementation.
Interestingly, the Chairman even went to the extent of saying that its own advocate “may not have been aware” when the High Court asked him about noise monitoring by the GSPCB.
“May be our advocate was not aware but we will be informing the High Court in the next hearing (July 22, 2024). The role of GSPCB is (only) to check noise pollution in industrial areas,” stated Patil.
There is no word from the Collector and Police on this and also, importantly, if they will install noise monitoring systems in some of the major venues and not just in police stations.
However, the reading of the rules establishes that both agencies, the District administration and the Pollution Board have to work together. Annexure II Sr No 1 of the Noise Action Plan reads: ‘Collector/District Magistrate is responsible for enforcement of noise pollution control measures and due compliance of ambient Air Quality Standards in respect of noise.’
“Look at Annexure 1, the GSPCB cannot absolve themselves. The Noise Rules 2000 and further notifications have to be progressive and not regressive. Enforcement is by the Collector, police, etc, but without the GSPCB report, nothing moves,” asserted petitioner Desmond Alvares.
The only silver lining in this cloud is that the Pollution Control Board, awakened due the High Court’s repeated intervention has finally decided to take action against establishments which are serial offenders of the sound pollution rules.
“Based on the evidence provided to the High Court and our own investigations, we are in the process of issuing shutdown notices to restaurants in Vagator that are operating without licences,” GSPCB Chairman, Mahesh Patil said.
In the July 11 hearing, the High Court had stated: ‘Mr Desmond Alvares, in the Contempt Petition No 12/2023 in PILWP No 7/2021 has placed…an application…indicating the names of the venues where loud trance parties take place in Anjuna…which are operating as open Air Club beyond permissible sound limits and beyond permissible time limit… the List of all such restaurants/establishments are mentioned in the application.’
The applicant has also included a CD of videos of the noise pollution caused beyond 10 pm for the month of May, 2024, to July 2024.
“Each government department passes the buck to the other. They all know they are in one big game, where they think they can make fools of us. They did so because we trusted them. Now that the High Court is involved, their time to think starts,” said Alvares.
