After the panic rush to ATMs and fuel outlets on Tuesday night, Wednesday saw people of all sections trying hard to cope with the demonetisation. Even hotels scaled down their menu for the day, anticipating low turnout.
The Salem Railway Junction and the New Bus Stand did not witness the usual crowd in the morning hours. There were not many people to travel in trains, as they could not get the current tickets. Bus conductors had a tough time with commuters who presented Rs.500 notes for tickets, perhaps hoping for Rs.100 and Rs.50 notes in return as change.
Trade and industry took a hit with the banks closed for two days and the ATMs drying up. The sudden announcement caught all the major and small time hotels by surprise.
Though all the hotels functioned, these, however, stepped down the quantum of food items. “Our owner instructed us to get ready with only 50 per cent of the items prepared on the routine days, as the strength of visitors is expected to go down drastically”, said the head cook of a hotel in the junction area.
The uzhavar santhais and the fish market in Suramangalam did not attract many customers, though fish merchants managed to mobilise smaller denomination currency last night. The toll plazas at Omalur and Keerambur witnessed anxious moments as vehicles piled up because people kept producing the demonetised currency.
What left some people dispirited was that the TASMAC retail outlets displayed boards expressing their inability to accept Rs. 500 and Rs.1,000.
People tried every option to get notes of smaller denomination in exchange for the withdrawn ones. They moved from shopping malls to super markets to grocery shops to vegetable and flower markets, but many returned homes disappointed. Some people even approached alms seekers outside the temples and other places of worship, in the hope that they would have the much-in-demand change.
Tourists at Yercaud were left high and dry, and ATMs at the hill station ran out of Rs.100 notes, which were withdrawn by the local people, mostly on Tuesday night. Tourists staying in major hotels and guest houses that accepted on-line transactions could continue their stay. Those in smaller hotels with no online facility had to pack their bags.
Amid all these, the Salem Town Police picked up a 50-year-old man, who was allegedly trying to capitalise on the situation by taking a Rs.100 cut on every Rs.500 note he accepted. Police said that acting on a tip-off, they found Ganesan of Ammapet providing four Rs.100 notes to each person who offered Rs.500, stating that Rs.100 was his commission.
In Erode , Shortage of currencies of denominations lower than Rs. 500 reflected in disruptions to transactions carried out by both private and government sectors.
Passengers at the railway junction, too, struggled since only the exact money of the ticket value was accepted. TASMAC outlets had put up boards stating that the currencies of the two higher denominations will not be accepted.
