Currency in hand, but food did not come on a platter

Tourist group from Kollam starves on Kerala Express

A tourist group from Kollam at the Vijayawada railway station on Wednesday

The sudden demonetisation move on Tuesday night turned out be a harrowing experience for a group of tourists from Kollam.

The tourists, mostly retired Kerala State Road Transport Corporation employees, were on a tour to northern India. They started their journey on Tuesday afternoon by Kerala Express.

Their nightmare began when they had supper from pantry car. The pantry car operators, on a directive from their bosses, refused to accept Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes.

The tourists and their tour operator mostly carried Rs. 1,000 notes and they were unable to purchase food and other requirements.

They virtually starved

The entire group and even many commuters virtually starved as they could not have proper breakfast or lunch.

Tour operator G. Thomaskutty, from the Thenmala Tourism Development Cooperative Society, said over the phone that since most of travellers carried notes in higher denominations, the pantry car operators even restricted the menu to snacks and tea for lunch.

With the small amount of lower denomination notes, they bought snacks and shared it among themselves. Even eateries at stations such as Vijayawada refused to accept Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes, he said.

Their destination is Agra where the train is scheduled to arrive late on Thursday morning.

Mr. Thomaskutty said the tour agent at Agra informed him that things would be difficult there too, with curbs on ATM withdrawals. The group is scheduled to reach Kollam on November 17.