J K News Today
Jammu/ Srinagar, November 9
The demonetization of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 has created a unique situation on highways as the toll plazas have refused to accept these notes from drivers, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded in a messy traffic snarl all across Jammu and Kashmir .
Vaishno Devi pilgrims and Jammu bound passengers from Srinagar and vice versa are caught in a typical messy situation as they don’ have the small denomination notes to pay as the toll fee. Several drivers phoned the JKNT office to complain of this harassment at the toll plazas. “ We are pleading that we don’t have small denomination currency notes and they are not accepting Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes, we are stuck up. This is sheer harassment ,” said Ghulam Mohammad Bhat a passenger stuck at Nagrota toll plaza . He expressed his helplessness , like many others stranded there, by asking,” Where do I get the Rs. 100 notes. I don’t have any.”
The passengers said that Prime Minister should have taken this aspect into consideration before announcing the high denomination notes as “ illegal .” There is no way of our converting these notes into legal ones at this stage and on this day. ATMs are closed, banks are shut and there are no moneylenders. Ours is not black money but the hard earned one ,” said Sunder Lal , an employee travelling in his car from Udhampur to Jammu.
Similar scenes of traffic jams and heated arguments have been reported from Lakhanpur , Lower Munda . “ It is all chaos here. If we have black money strip us naked but these are the only notes we have , is this sign of acche din for us,” lamented Ravi Kumar .
The toll plaza managers have an argument that they are not entitled to take high denomination notes, how do we accept those. They have no means to deposit this high denomination currency as genuine money after the midnight.
