SRIKAKULAM: P Ramu, a resident of Adi Andhra street of Tekkali, arrived in Srikakulam on Thursday to consult a medical specialist at the latter’s clinic at the Day and Night Junction.
Now that the demonetisation blues are over, he was carrying a little cash and kept his ATM card in case he needs more money in emergency. His trouble began after the doctor advised him to undergo some diagnostic tests. Ramu went to several ATMs dotting the busiest junction of the city, but only to find that the kiosks either had their shutters down or sported ‘no cash’ boards.
“After roaming for one and a half hours, finally I withdrew money from an ATM,” he told Express.
The gruelling days of scouting for ATMs dispensing cash post demonetisation have made a comeback to Srikakulam, with majorities of the kiosks running dry for the last two days.
Asked about the problem, bank officials revealed that with the available cash being diverted for disbursing social security pensions and salaries of government employees, they were facing troubles in replenishing cash in the ATMs, adding that at least Rs 50 crore was needed to cater to the immediate needs.
On Wednesday, the SBI ATMs at the Day and Night Junction, Palakonda Road, Rythu Bazaar ran out of cash. Even the SBI ATM near the main branch on the GT Road sported a ‘no cash’ board. Same was the case for the Andhra Bank ATMs at the Day and Night Junction and GT Road, the ATMs of Syndicate Bank near Rama Krishna Theatre and Laxmi Vilas Bank ATM at Rythu Bazaar.
Long queues were witnessed at the ATMS of Indian Bank near ARTS College and IDBI Bank at Rythu Bazaar which dispensed cash.
On Thursday, the Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank and Punjab National Bank ATMs at Women’s College dispensed no cash. The ATMs of Andhra Bank and SBI on GT Road also remained closed.
“I planned to visit my in-laws house in Hyderbad. I went to withdraw money for which I had to roam across the city for more than one hour to find an ATM dispensing cash. I thought demonetisation problems are over. But, I was wrong,” said an irked B Vishnu, a resident of the Rythu Bazaar area in Srikakulam.
Asked about the problem, the bank officials expressed their helplessness, citing cash crunch. “The available cash has been diverted for payment of social security pensions and employees’ salaries. We received Rs 32 crore a few days before, it was not enough,” said M Venkateswara Rao, the lead bank manager, adding that collector P Lakshmi Narasimham has sought immediate release of Rs 50 crore to deal with the crisis.
However, he promised that the condition would come to normal in a few days.