More than Rs 10 crore was exchanged in demonetised currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 in various banks of the lalkuan region here on Thursday. Queues of people wanting to exchange their Rs 1000 and Rs 500 currency notes were seen in most banks across the region from early morning till the evening.
The first day of demonetisation had elicited a knee jerk reaction from a proportion of the public with more than Rs 4 crore being exchanged in various banks of the region for demonetised notes on Wednesday.
Similarly, more than Rs 10 crore was exchanged in banks amidst heavy presence of police posted to maintain order and prevent any disruption.
Queues of people started forming in banks of lalkuan from early in the morning. Though not all the banks have received their lot or new currency in lalkuan, these banks used the already stored currency notes of Rs 100 and Rs 50.
The State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Nainital Bank, Almora Urban Bank in lalkuan saw queues of people forming from early in the morning hours. Such was the number of people that the queue starting at near the counter went way behind out of the main gate of the bank and extended on to the roadside. Police teams had been posted at the banks in view of security concerns.
Many among those waiting in line were people who had to exchange no more than a couple of currency notes of Rs 1000 or Rs 500. They said that they had to get these notes exchanged as their food items had been exhausted.
A larger number of people waiting in line were there for depositing their money in the bank. On the first day of the demonetisation, more than Rs 1.50 crore was deposited and about Rs 65 lakh was distributed in exchange in the State Bank of India in lalkuan.
Similarly, about Rs 1 crore was deposited in Punjab National Bank with Rs 30 lakh being distributed in exchange; Rs 75 was deposited in Nainital bank with Rs 5 lakh being distributed in exchange whereas in the Almora Urban Bank, Rs 50 lakh was deposited and about Rs 4 lakh was distributed in exchange, said official sources.