Kolkata ATMs stay dry throughout on Wednesday

KOLKATA: Scenes that more worrying than the long serpentine queues are unfolding outside the ATMs in Kolkata. It is the absence of them. Since Tuesday the massive queues that had come to represent the acute cash crisis in the city following demonetisation two weeks ago have either shortened or disappeared. At the superficial level it gives an impression that the cash crisis that followed the demonetisation announcement on November 8 has eased.But a close scrutiny on Wednesday revealed otherwise. Most ATMs either have the “no cash” board hung outside and a few that were functioning are only disbursing Rs 2000 notes.
“This is the main reason that the queues have almost halved or disappeared altogether. The ATMs have dried up due to acute cash crisis. Many ATMs were last replenished on Monday. There are however some ATMs that are dispensing money but they are only giving Rs 2000 notes which have very few takers,” said a senior banker with a private bank in Dalhousie. On Wednesday morning and afternoon, TOI visited close to 25 ATMs in Dalhousie, Brabourne Road, Clive Row, Ganesh Chandra Avenue and Lenin Sarani to take stock of the ground reality. Security guards of most of the ATMs said that they had no clue when the cash dispensing machines will be replenished.
“Abhi to situation aap samajh rahe hain na. Kuch pata nahi paisa kab aayega (You know what the situation is like. We have no idea when the cash will arrive),” said the security guard outside the shut ATM of Axis Bank on Ganesh Chadra Avenue. Surprisingly, a few metres down the road there were only two people waiting outside an HDFC Bank ATM that was dispensing cash. The security guard explained: “The ATM has only Rs 2000 notes which the people do not want.” The drying up of the ATMs has left cash in short supply, retail sales stumbling and wholesale markets in turmoil.
A section especially those who support the demonetisation drive, are trying to equate the shortening of the queues with easing of the cash crisis. But the theory may boomerang in the form of public ire and erosion of trust in the banking system, bankers, economists and businessmen in the city warned. “Long queues outside the banks and ATMs are better than no queues at all because it shows that people have not only scaled down their expectations but given up completely. This does not augur well,” said the manager of a public sector bank in Dalhousie.
People have exercised a lot of restraint till now taking pains in standing in long queues outside the ATMs and banks with the hope that the situation will ease within a few days. But even two weeks after the demonetisation of high denomination notes, the situation has not eased and the cash crisis has become more acute. The “out of cash” and “nakad nahi hai (no cash)” boards have become more frequent outside the ATMs. This is making the people restless. “We never know what this may lead to. There have already been reports from other parts of the country that people have committed suicide due to this. Minor skirmishes have also been reported. We hope it does not snowball into a law and order situation,” said a senior banker who did not wish to be named.