Pilgrims stranded at Parasnath Jain shrine

Dhanbad: More than 6,000 pilgrims are stranded at the centuries-old Jain shrine of Parasnath in Giridih after the demonetization of Rs 5,00 and 1,000 currency notes. Tourists said they are unable to buy food or other items nor are they able to tour any site due to scarcity of cash.
"Shopkeepers and restaurant owners have refused to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.When we visited the nearest bank, we got only Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 in cash. which was insufficient. Besides, we had to stand for more than five hours in almost a kilometre-long queue to exchange currencies. We arrived here on Friday morning, but could not visit the Sammet Shikhar ji (hill top) due to the shortage of money," said Vipul Pallake, a Jain tourist from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. Many pilgrims take the help of doli bearers to reach the top bu are unable to pay them. "If the situation does not improve in a day or two, it wil create chaos and confusion among thousands of devotees here", said Karnataka-based devotee B N Chowbula.
"The demonetisation has created problems for devotees, especially those who departed from their native places in Karnataka, Maharshtra, Gujarat a day before the old currencies were banned. We are trying to manage the issues with the help of different organizations," said Manoj Jain, a working committee member of Uttar Pradesh Bhavan at Parasnath. He added although demonetization has created problems for devotees, they are happy with the government's step to stop corruption and check black money.
Suman Sinha, manager of the Bharatvarshiya Tirth Kshetra Committee at Parasnath, said, "We have urged the bank authorities concerned to help the pilgrims, but we are yet to get any concrete solution for them."
Deputy development commissioner Virendra Bhushan said: "Apart from deploying extra forces and magistrates to control public gatherings at banks and ATMs, we have directed the concerned bank managers and other authorities to solve problems for the devotees too," said , adding that if any such issue comes into his notice, the district administration would look into the matter.