Berhampur: Aska in Ganjam district was submerged under 11 feet water as Badanadi and Rushikulya swelled following unprecedented rains in the aftermath of severe cyclonic storm and floodwaters gushed into the town.
People could be seen wading through knee-deep water, trying to save themselves and whatever belongings they could.
The town remained inundated for three days, and so were the ATMs machines. Amid the efforts to save lives and hearth, these were left unattended.
The result: Currency notes worth lakhs of rupees in these ATM counters were soaked.
“We have at least four ATMs and two deposit machines. At the time of floods, over Rs. 60 lakh were in the machines The currency notes got soaked after waters of river Rushikulya entered the ATMs and branches. The exact loss amount would be known later,” SBI’s ATM Channel Manager Debadutta Satapathy to a news agency.
The soaked and damaged currencies would be exchanged with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), he added.
Andhra Bank, which has a branch and two ATMs in the town, has also reported about soggy currency notes.
These soaked currency notes are now being put up on rooftops to dry.
The floodwaters have affected banking in the Sugar Town. District lead bank officer PK Choudhuray said except three branches of some banks, all others remained defunct as the floodwaters damaged computers and other infrastructure.
With only a few mobile ATMs functioning, long queues were seen in front of these counters.
