Roads of Jamshedpur bore the big demonetisation brunt on Friday.

Queues snaking out of banks, post offices and the handful of operational ATMs triggered severe congestion in Sakchi, Bistupur, Golmuri, Mango and several other parts of the city, so much so that the traffic department had to rush reinforcements to ensure smooth vehicular flow.

"Snarls were reported along Sakchi Highway (near HDFC Bank) around noon and we deployed personnel to control traffic. There were also reports from Golmuri Masjid Road (near ICICI Bank) and from the stretch between Bistupur police station and Tata Steel Works gate (near SBI's main branch)," said DSP (traffic) Vivekananda Thakur.

The conspicuous absence of reliable ATM services - only the SBI and ICICI ATMs in Bistupur among the 500-odd in the city seemed to be working - even after 48 hours augmented people's troubles.

"I thought ATMs would dispense cash from today (Friday) and didn't bother queuing up at the bank yesterday (Thursday). The waiver on ATM surcharge appeared to be an added benefit. But, I did not find a single ATM open anywhere in Sakchi, Baradwari, Golmuri or Bhalubasa. A friend said I should not expect things to be streamlined before another 48 hours," said Gautam Kumar, a Tata Steel employee and resident of Tinplate Colony.

An official of a private company, Ashish Kumar, said it took him over an hour to withdraw Rs 2,000 from an SBI ATM. "I was hoping for a crisp Rs 2,000 note, but got my cash in denominations of Rs 100," he added.

Those who had expected shorter queues at bank counters on Friday because ATMs were expected to operate were in for an unpleasant surprise too.

"I had deliberately delayed my exchange plans because I thought the HDFC Bank in Sakchi would be less crowded. Imagine my frustration when the queue, which I had seen near the gates on Thursday, had spilled on to the road on Friday. I had no option, but to wait and wait," said Ashok Sinha, an intern in a private firm in Bistupur and a resident of Parsudih.

SBI chief manager Kumud Jha explained the predicament of banks, including logistics issues like configuration of ATM cassettes and manpower crisis for cash removal and refill.

"Things will gradually normalise. It was not possible to open ATMs with new notes within 48 hours. We outsourced cash evacuation, which has been done. The machines are being reconfigured. We hope to make more ATMs operational by tomorrow (Saturday) morning," Jha said.

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