• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Mumbai , Aug. 2

THOUGH banking operations returned to normalcy by Tuesday, several banks are now facing the problem of soiled currency notes and documents, as rainwater has flooded their strong rooms and safe deposit vaults.

However, it is too early to put a figure on the amount of loss caused by flooding, say banking officials. Reserve Bank of India officials said banks have approached them with the request for changing the soiled currency notes and RBI will be taking necessary steps to replace them with new notes.

The strong rooms and vaults of most of the banks are located in basements. If not flooding in basements, banks had to deal with the problem of water leakage, said a bank official.

An official of State Bank of India said that two to three branches in Vile Parle, Juhu and Bandra were waterlogged, causing damage to currency and documents. "But we were able to flush out the water within one or two days and salvage most of the notes and documents. We will change the soiled notes with RBI," he said.

Bank of India also faced waterlogging and water seepage in one or two branches in Ghatkopar (W) and Saki Naka, said Mr S. Hariharan, General Manager. However, the currency chests were not affected. "We have currency chests in Nariman Point, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Ghatkopar, Hill Road in Bandra and Belapur. Though water entered some of the basements , it did not enter the vaults," he said.

The branch and the corporate office of IndusInd Bank in Andheri were flooded with water, but there was no damage. Mr Suresh Pai, Executive Vice-President, said, "We have no currency chests, as we transfer the money to RBI daily. Though our basement was flooded, nothing was damaged."

ICICI Bank had provided a mobile ATM van in Kalyan, which was the only branch to be affected by waterlogging, said Ms Madhabi Puri Buch, Senior General Manager. "Only our Kalyan branch was affected by waterlogging. But we provided a mobile ATM and also transportation to take customers to nearby branches," she said. The two currency chests at Bandra and Dombivili were not affected by waterlogging. Ms Buch added that it is too early to assess the damage to the lockers in this branch and it will be known only when customers check out the contents of their respective lockers.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
New low-pressure area advanced by a day

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line