BENGALURU: After wearing a deserted look for nearly two months, the Central Business District came back to life on Friday, the first weekend after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on pubs and bars within 500 metres of highways within municipal limits.
One of the staffers at The Hard Rock Cafe on St Marks’ Road, on condition of anonymity, said that it is good to see nearly 80% occupancy at one of the most prominent watering holes in CBD. “We opened our outlet last Sunday. As many offices are situated around this area and as the weekend starts today, we are seeing throngs office goers. But it is still not the same yet. It will take a few more days to see the packed streets we witnessed before the ban came into effect in July,” he said.
Owners of most of pubs and bars in and around MG Road and Brigade Road had given up hope and were planning to shut their businesses down after the Karnataka High Court rejected their plea to denotify the stretches of highways passing through city limits. The Supreme Court decision has not only upped their spirits, but also revived the nightlife in the city’s most happening area.
“Right now, we are full house and we are happy with the way the business is going. We did not face any issue with the renewal of license and got it immediately,” said Kishore, general manager of Church Street Social pub which resumed its business on August 27.
