PANJIM: The extraordinary general body meeting of the Comunidade of Anjuna on Sunday resolved not to allow Sunburn electronic dance music (EDM) at Vagator on December 31.
Speaking to O Heraldo, Comunidade of Anjuna managing committee president Domingos Pereira said that the gauncars present for the meeting decided that the Sunburn festival be allowed only for three days — from December 28 to 30.
“We will be giving them the venue for only three days. Not on December 31. Not at all. All the locals are against it. The organisers cannot dictate terms to us,” Pereira said.
Pereira said that it was also decided to charge the organisers over Rs 2.43 crore for the three-day event and to issue No-Objection Certificate (NOC) only if they pay 15 per cent of the total fee in advance.
“If they (Sunburn) have to organise the event, they will have to pay the amount. They will have to pay at the rate of Rs 51 per square metre. If they pay the amount then only they will be given permission to hold the event,” said Pereira.
It may be recalled that the villagers of Anjuna-Caisua had strongly opposed any move to extend the Sunburn EDM festival from three days to four days particularly on New Year’s Eve as it would result in massive traffic congestion in the coastal village.
In 2013, the Sunburn festival was shifted from Candolim to Vagator, while it was only once held at Pune, before shifting to Vagator again. This year the organisers had sought permission to hold the festival for four days and have even started online sale of tickets for four days including December 31, much to the chagrin of the locals.
What has annoyed the villagers is that the Sunburn organisers had taken all the authorities for granted including the local village panchayat as they had started the sale of tickets before obtaining all permissions from the authorities.
The Anjuna-Caisua panchayat had passed a resolution not to allow the EDM festival at Vagator on December 31.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had recently reiterated that Sunburn EDM festival will not be allowed on New Year’s Eve if villagers of Anjuna and surrounding areas are opposed to it.
“Siolim MLA Delilah Lobo has already made a request not to allow holding of Sunburn EDM festival on the fourth day i.e. December 31. If the people of Anjuna do not want the festival to be held on New Year’s Eve, then the same will not be allowed by the government,” the Chief Minister had said when he was asked whether the Sunburn festival will be allowed at Vagator Beach for four days i.e. December 28 to 31.
In September this year, the High Court of Bombay at Goa had also directed the Comunidade of Anjuna not to grant permission to hold the Sunburn EDM festival if the organisers fail to pay the balance amount of Rs 36.95 lakh within a period of eight weeks. Following this the organisers deposited the balance amount and applied for permission to hold the event this year but for four days.
Meanwhile Siolim MLA Delialah Lobo was not available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact her.
Earlier, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo had said that the Sun Burn event be allowed with restrictions on timings, which is from 3pm to 8pm, so that it doesn’t cause inconvenience to anybody, especially small hoteliers, restaurants and other small traders, who make brisk business on that day.