HDFC Bank in Sector 5, Dwarka
In Dwarka, as the queues outside banks get shorter, the lines outside ATMs grow longer. The reason: Banks have run out of cash, and people are now desperately looking for ATMs with money.
Vimal Kumar Rai, a resident of Sector 5, said, “The queues are becoming shorter outside all banks in Sector 5 — ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. These banks are centrally located, but people are no longer thronging them, because they have no cash."
He added, "Quite naturally, the banks in smaller markets and isolated areas are more crowded, as people are hopeful of getting cash there. Branches and ATMs of IDBI Bank, Indian Bank, Syndicate Bank are now witnessing longer queues."
Queues get longer outside ATMs, as banks run out of cash
City Spidey, too, noticed the absence of crowds outside HDFC Bank and Axis Bank in Sector 5. The HDFC branch was experiencing a link failure for the past two days, confirmed a bank employee, adding that the branches anyway run out of cash by noon.
Though there are several banks and ATMs around Ashirvad Chowk in Dwarka, they too were out of cash the same time every day.
Ramesh Mumukshu, an RTI activist and a resident of Sector 16, had been trying to get cash from his ICICI account for the past couple of days. He finally succeeded in doing so on December 21. Sharing his experience, he said, "I had gone to withdraw money from the ICICI Bank at the Sector 6 mini market, but it had no cash. Finally, I came to Sector 5 ICICI Bank, and after standing for almost two hours, I managed to withdraw Rs 24,000. However, I did not get a single Rs 500 note. It is not easy to use the 2,000-rupee notes!"
Shilpi Singh, a resident of Sector 4, said, “Most of the ATMs in Dwarka are now without cash! If the ATMs had cash round-the-clock, this crisis would have been under control. But now, neither the banks nor the ATMs have cash. It's getting tougher by the day."
Residents wait outside ICICI Bank in Sector 5
