Hotel Mamta is back in business on Dakbungalow Road in Patna on Friday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

The worst is over and if you are planning a drink in a watering hole this weekend, you can hit a few.

The bar-cum-restaurants, which were asked to shut down in the state capital, are slowly coming back to life after adhering to the fresh rules set by the state excise department.

The department on April 25 had relaxed some of the norms, which they had issued for the 250 restaurant-cum-bars across the state for getting their licences renewed. Sources said, about 1 per cent bars have come back to business after a month-long hiatus.

A representative of Mamta bar-cum-restaurant on Dakbungalow Road said they had reopened and were serving liquor. “We have reopened. We had downed the shutters for a very brief period because we had most of the requirements in place. We did not have much problem in adhering to the rules. However, many bars are still closed.”

Several other bars are busy customising themselves to the excise department order. Sources said several applications to restart bars were stuck in the district magistrate’s office.

Anand Kumar, an employee with the Oasis Bar and Restaurant on Boring Road, said they were yet to pull up shutters.

“Our documents are in the district magistrate’s office and are awaiting approval. The construction of new entrance is delaying the process of reopening of several bars. A few are expected to reopen in the next two to three days,” Kumar said.

An employee with Soni Bar and Restaurant on Station Road said: “We will take some more time to reopen because we are making certain changes. After the excise department relaxed a few norms many bars are opening. At present, our licence renewal application is pending with the district magistrate.”

On March 31, the excise department had set six new regulations for bar-cum-restaurant owners, which they had to stick to if they wanted to renew their licences.

The regulation stated that bar-cum-restaurants should have at least 500sqft area in the drinking bay, separate entrances leading to the bar and the restaurant, separate washrooms for bar and dining areas. The establishments also needed to have the Bihar Sales Tax (BST) and the Central Sales Tax (CST) numbers. They were also asked to comply with the regulations for restaurants fixed by the municipality. A no-objection certificate from the authority or department concerned for the quality of food being served to customers was also made mandatory.

However, the norms were relaxed on April 25 and according to the amendment, the bars-cum-restaurants could now apply for a licence if they had a valid BST, CST and food licence. Earlier, the excise regulations stated that the establishments would have to get the three licences before they were granted the liquor licence.

“The bar-cum-restaurants were earlier told that they should have the BST, CST and food licence before getting the liquor licence. That is why majority of the establishments remained closed for almost a month. Now, the department has said that the establishments could apply for the licence renewal if they have a valid CST, BST and food licence issued to them at any given time. But the rest of the regulations are still in place and it will take some more time before all bars reopened. Many papers are stuck at the district magistrate’s office for his seal,” a source in the excise department said.