Udhagamandalam: Routine activities including daily transactions were put on the back burner by various banks in the Nilgiris district on Thursday.

With a large a number of people forming queues in front of the banks since early in the morning to either exchange or deposit Rs.1000 or Rs.500 notes which are no longer legal tender, additional counters were opened to attend to their needs and police personnel were deployed to prevent untoward incidents.

A long and winding queue of people representing various sections of the Society was seen within the premises of the State Bank of India in Udhagamandalam. Among them were many visitors.

Speaking to Covai Post,the Chief Manager of the bank Vageesh M.Kaushik said that in order to effectively deal with the situation brought about by the removal of the notes from circulation the branch, in addition to its work,has been asked to take care of the requirements relating to funds of eight other SBI branches in various parts of the district,a few branches of some other banks and also the Head Post Office.The staff have been instructed not to go on leave.

Stating that the deposited Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes were replaced with Rs.100, Rs.50 or Rs.20 notes, he said that new Rs.500, Rs.100 and Rs.2000 notes were expected within a day or two.

To a query, Mr.Kaushik said,“ I expect normalcy to be restored within a few days”.