RBI to exchange notes damaged during cyclone 'Titli' in Odisha

Currency notes worth lakhs of rupees were soaked as flood water entered banks and ATM counters at Aska town in Odisha's Ganjam district, officials said on Wednesday. 

The town remained inundated for three days due to floods in the aftermath of the cyclone 'Titli'. 

"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," said SBI's ATM Channel Manager Debadutta Satapathy. 

"All the soaked and damaged currencies will be exchanged with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," he said. Another state-run lender, Andhra Bank, also reported about soggy currency notes in the sugar town. "We have not counted the exact amount of soaked notes," said Divisional General Manager of Andhra Bank, Bhubaneswar Nayak. 

The bank has one branch and two ATMs in Aska. The Andhra Bank official said it has introduced mobile ATMs in the town with withdrawal limit of Rs 4,000 per day. 

District lead bank officer P K Choudhuray said except three branches of some banks, all others remained defunct as the flood water damaged computers and other infrastructure.

(With inputs from agencies.)