Delhiites face harrowing time to exchange high-value notes

NEW DELHI: People in Delhi had a harrowing time for the second consecutive day as they stood in long queues for hours outside banks to exchange their Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with new ones even as many of ATMs had not stocked up cash.

Delhiites found it difficult in paying for their household items, essential commodities and vegetables as they ran out of their savings of small currencies.

To manage anxious crowd, as many as 3,400 personnel of paramilitary and Delhi Police, along with 200 quick reaction teams, have been deployed at ATMs and banks across the national capital.

Many of the ATMs were not operative despite the announcement made by the Centre on November 8 that they will be operational from Friday following two-day closure.

However, people returned empty handed as they were told by security guards that the ATMs have not been stocked up with cash till now.

"I had been saving money but it wasn't of any use as all of them were in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations. My only hope after surviving two days without cash was that the ATMs will be operational from today, but owing to many of the ATMs being closed, I had to borrow money from my neighbours," said Sunita Dass, a homemaker.

"I had woken up at 4 AM hoping that I would withdraw money from ATM located nearby, but I was in for a rude shock as I found the ATM didn't have any cash," said IT professional, Sukesh Jain.

Apart from ATMs, serpentine queues were witnessed at banks across the city for the second consecutive day as people thronged to exchange Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 for new currency, some of the banks ran out of cash.

In many areas, people were seen queuing up outside banks even before they opened for business.