A usual weekend night for tipplers involves pubs and music, and Sunday evening saw a gathering of pub owners, artistes, musicians, and locals, but the mood was a far cry from the usual party atmosphere. While the owners of pubs and bars as well as performers gathered at a pub and brewery in Indiranagar for a panel discussion against the police “crackdown” on live music, several residents gathered outside the venue in support of the police action.
As per a recent Supreme Court ruling, a licence is necessary for all places of entertainment to have music, either live or recorded, and the police have been enforcing this, much to the relief of residents’ welfare associations who say that their once quiet residential neighbourhoods are plagued by noise pollution.
Livelihood issues
At the panel discussion, pub owners and those whose livelihoods depend on the smooth running of these venues argued otherwise.
Akshat Prasad, director of Vapour, a pub and brewery, said, “It was more of educative event. Close to 200 people, a majority of them musicians and artistes, participated in the discussion. The move by the authorities denies livelihood for thousands of people. Pubs and restaurants provide a platform for musicians to perform in their early days of career and they will be deprived of a livelihood.”
He said that owners of pubs and restaurants were ready to work with residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) on genuine concerns raised by them on noise pollution.
Manu Chandra, head of the Bengaluru chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India, said, “It is just a bunch of artistes who support music and who want to keep the live music alive getting together and wondering why so many policies are now being created which completely eliminates the opportunity for them to perform”.
Outside the venue, a group of locals holding placards gathered to air their views against the increasing commercialisation.
Rajkumar, a resident of Indiranagar, said, “They are trying to twist the topic by saying it is all about music, but it’s not just that. It’s about sanction plans, occupancy certificate, and NOC. We are not against the music, we are against the loud music.”
In a press release, iChange Indiranagar, a federation of RWAs in Indiranagar, stated that the RWAs in Indiranagar were not seeking a ban on live music performance or to reduced opportunities for artistes to perform. “We are convinced that this a ploy to divert attention from one very simple question: are the establishments which are protesting the government’s order legal?”
