In pics: People grow impatient waiting for cash at banks, ATMs

As serpentine queues continued to be seen outside banks and ATMs across the country on Sunday, patience wore thin among the hassled public leading to heated arguments and jostling, with banks and cash vends running dry soon after they opened their shutters.

As serpentine queues continued to be seen outside banks and ATMs across the country on Sunday, patience wore thin among the hassled public leading to heated arguments and jostling, with banks and cash vends running dry soon after they opened their shutters.

People in a queue at the Bank of Baroda in Paharganj, New Delhi to exchange their old Rs 500 and 1000 notes on Sunday.(Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

With banks scheduled to remain closed on Monday on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti, people scrambled to withdraw new banknotes to meet their daily needs and exchange existing high value notes after demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8.

Noida residents had to wait for hours at banks and ATMs for getting their currency exchanged. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

In Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, angry people clashed with bank employees and threw stones at the branch at Sujru village, leaving three persons including a woman injured.

Police said as the branch ran out of new notes, the people who had gathered there in large numbers clashed with bank employees. Over a hundred people have been booked in connection with the incident.

Long queue in front of the Reserve Bank of India at Parliament Street for new currency in New Delhi. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

An employee stacks old currency notes at a cash counter at Allahabad Bank in Parliament Street, Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

In the national capital, people continued to face hardship as they queued up in large numbers outside banks and ATMs to get cash to meet their daily need.

A senior citizen coming out after depositing the old currency at Indian Bank, Shanti Niketan branch in New Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Heated arguments were exchanged as cash in ATMs and banks ran dry as the day drew to an end. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Security was beefed up outside bank branches, after there were rumours about stampede, people plundering goods from a mall in Seelampur on Saturday.

To manage anxious crowds, as many as 3,400 personnel of paramilitary and Delhi Police along with 200 quick reaction teams have been deployed at ATMs and banks. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Pphoto)

“Since it’s a Sunday, we expected more crowds outside banks and ATMs. We made adequate security arrangements to ensure no untoward incident occurs,” said a senior police official.

At many places, people were seen running from one ATM to other as the machines ran out of cash.

Long, snaking queues continued to be seen outside banks and ATMs in Mumbai with those facing cash paucity complaining about having to wait for hours as the bank branches themselves were running short of currency notes.

Longer queues were seen outside public sector banks where a sizeable number of account holders are retired persons and senior citizens. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

There was increased anxiety among some customers as the bank staff took longer time to process their cash request.

Heavy rush inside the SBI bank for withdrawal as well to deposit the defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes at Sector 17 in Chandigarh. (Keshav Singh/HT Photo)

Some people with accounts in cooperative banks in Maharashtra complained that they took longer time to get their money exchanged from such banks because of the cash crunch.

Meanwhile, workers from political parties including BJP, Shiv Sena, MNS and Congress came out to help the people standing in queues outside banks and ATMs in Mumbai, by offering them drinking water and refreshments like tea.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a queue at a State Bank of India branch in New Delhi. (Arun Sharma/HT Photo)

Though there has been some relief through such help from political outfits, the process of verification of notes, updating of accounts and printing it on passbooks were taking time, increasing the woes of people.