Loud music post-midnight banned for X’mas, New Year

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-12-23
PANAJI- Two days after banning beach parties, the state government on Monday decided to ban amplified music past midnight at Christmas and New Year parties organised within enclosures in hotels, restaurants, clubs and other places.
Traditional Christmas and New Year dances will have to shut down music by midnight this year with the police all set to enforce the ban in letter and spirit.
“This ban is as per the notification of the government of Goa with the relaxation of 15 days intimated well in advance. So the cut off time will be 12 a.m. on December 24, 25 and 31 and on other days it will be 10 p.m.,” says the Superintendent of Police, special branch, Mr Atmaram Deshpande.
The ban applies to all venues that apply for sound licenses, inform sources, but say that it will not apply to places where sound control is possible like hotels.
Goa has quite a large Christian population and Christmas and New Year are big occasions in the state. This is also the peak season for tourists. Dance organisers speaking on the condition of anonymity say that they have been preparing for this season for some time now.
They say even though the ban has been in place for the past seven years or so the organisers have been managing to keep the dances going with the connivance and the blessings of the local authorities.
They say that dances that are organised on the eve of Christmas, take place after the end of the midnight mass as people only come for these dances after the mass is over, say by around 1.30 a.m or so.
This year the state is already reeling under the ban on beach parties and this too will affect the local businessmen and probably only benefit the starred hotels as most of them will have their shows indoors.
Sources say that the administration is gearing up to keep a check on the noise pollution produced by loud music during shows.
As per the Madhya Pradesh Noise Pollution Act, there is a ban on parties playing music over 55 decibels after 10 p.m. and the state has given relaxation till 12 a.m. for few days that include December 24, 25 and 31. However tourism insiders feel that this time the ban during this period would discourage tourists as not all can afford to go to starred hotels that charge rates that are out of reach of the common people including locals.