Petrol filling stations make hay in Belagavi

Belagavi

: There was huge rush at petrol bunks here on Wednesday with people in a hurry to get away with the demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency

notes

in their possession.

A large number of people insisted on fuel worth either Rs 500 or Rs 1,000. Salesmen also encouraged such purchases as they were finding it hard to return lower denomination currency notes like Rs 100 and Rs 50. A

petrol bunk

remained close on the pretext of unavailability of electricity supply.

In one of the renowned hospitals, denounced currencies were accepted till noon. However, all of a sudden, the hospital decided not to accept them. ATMs with money depositing facilities had witnessed long queues till midnight on Tuesday. Due to heavy rush and server jam,

ATM

kiosks of the

State Bank of India

stopped functioning for a while.

Nanda Kulkarni, a resident, was struggling to do any shopping as she possessed only Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. However, she was all praise for Prime Minister Modi. “Today, I arrived from Hyderabad and I am carrying only higher denomination notes. I am facing tough time as the ATMs are closed. However, I am willing to take any pain for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his crusade against

corruption

and

black money

. It may be chaotic this moment. But this little inconvenience is inevitable to achieve a bigger cause,” she said.

Shridhar Shetty, a small hotelier at Hanuman Nagar, said he was left with just one Rs 500 note. “Thankfully I purchased goods and grocery yesterday morning itself. Now I am left with a single Rs 500 note. I will keep this forever with me as token of memory of this historical moment.”