LAND grabbing, tourism and noise pollution form a deadly tripod for Goa, Goemkars and Goemkarponn. That is why the notification of the Goa government under Rule 4 (2) read with Rule 2 (c) of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, published in Official Gazette, Series II No. 42 dated 13-01-2022 has proved to be a dismal failure.
On March 14, 2022 the Revised State Action Plan for the control of noise pollution was issued and it has proved to be an utter failure because in the coastal belt of Anjuna, Vagator, Calangute and other beaches in north Goa, loud music disturbs local residents way beyond the curfew hours. In fact, the local residents have taken out numerous marches to the local police — with zero effect.
The zones in which noisy parties continue unabated have not been exhaustively mapped. Nor have remedial measures been implemented because ministers and local politicians who are allegedly paid off, control the police stations and local constables are directed not to act on local complaints about noise pollution.
Without police cooperation the district magistrates can do precious little to act against the menace of noise pollution which goes on beyond the stipulated hours and that too at decibels much higher than the legally permitted level.
Loudspeakers and other public address systems during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival also play loud music much beyond the stipulated curfew. Though the time limit was occasionally extended to allow immersion of the Lord Ganesh idols, this was not enough. The accompanying techno and disco lightening revelry do not come under “festive” occasions but are allowed to continue even after the end of Goa’s Chavath festival along the coastal belt.
Rule 5(3) declares the State government may be subject to such terms and conditions as are necessary to reduce noise pollution, permit the use of loudspeakers or public address systems and the like during night hours (between 10pm to 12 midnight) on or during any cultural, religious or festive occasions of a limited duration not exceeding 15 days in all during a calendar year, and the state government or district authority in respect of its jurisdiction as authorized by the concerned State government shall generally specify in advance.
Now, the ongoing Lord Ganesh festival has resulted in a lot of noise pollution. Additional to this is the ongoing hill cutting which cannot be stopped, with orchard and forest land giving way from cultivated to settlement zones. It’s another menace which cannot be reined in. TCP minister Viswajit Rane is being blamed for allowing these arbitrary conversions.
Hitting out at the hill cutting and land conversions, Congress has alleged that Town & Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant are playing a game of charades to cheat Goans. The Congress has been alleging that there is an ongoing land scam and real estate business being run by the BJP. It is not news anymore.
The truth is sacred lakes, vital water bodies and crematorium lands are being converted into settlement zones, so that real estate mafias can put up buildings and change the much loved landscape of traditional Goa forever. The Maharashtra Advocate General has been roped in to defend the cases of land conversion under section 17 (2) of Goa, GPCC President Amit Patkar alleges.
After Ganesh Chaturthi, the Congress has promised to visit major Goan villages to expose the land conversion policies of the BJP government. But whether they will succeed in reining in the land mafia — which appears to be backed by the TCP ministry — remains to be seen.

(Deborah Albuquerque has BCom, CAIIB and LLM degrees from the University of Mumbai. She is a practising advocate of the Bombay high court.)