Twenty-five-year-old Ghanshyam Pandey started taking country liquor out of fun with his friends. But he soon became an addict.

A resident of Khusrupur (around 35km east of Patna), Ghanshyam is now admitted to the de-addiction centre of Nalanda Medical College and Hospital to cope with the partial prohibition that has been implemented across the state. He is a data entry operator in a government office in Hajipur.

The case of 27-year-old Kundan Kumar Singh is also similar.A teacher at a private school in Barh, Kundan too, wants to get rid of his addiction and has taken admission at the same centre.

Ghanshyam and Kundan are two of the eight patients who turned up for consultation at the de-addiction centre since yesterday.

The experts associated with the centre said both Ghanshyam and Kundan required constant monitoring, as they were heavy drinkers.

Ghanshyam said: "I used to consume at least eight bottles of country liquor daily. I decided to quit alcohol and have come to this centre for help."

The family of both the addicts hailed the state government's initiative to ban country liquor. Kundan's uncle S.K. Singh said: "The addiction not only destroys the life of the addicts but their families suffer as well. It is good that the government is now taking steps to ban alcohol consumption and has come up with a de-addiction centre."

Ghazala Imam, one of the psychiatrists with the NMCH's de-addiction centre, said yoga and other sessions would be launched in the de-addiction centre soon.

"At present, we are giving dextrose injections to patients to maintain their sugar levels. The sugar level falls down when alcohol is consumed heavily and can lead to several problems. We are also giving Vitamin supplements to the patients and other medicines to treat nerve problems, if any. In any kind of addiction, the nerves of a person gets weak and needs to be treated accordingly," said Imam.