Paharganj: ourists have no cash to pay bills

New Delhi: For Kim, a 22-year-old Korean national, visiting India was a dream. But for the last two days, she has been struggling to get her currency exchanged as she has her tour planned for Jaipur, Agra, and Varanasi.

“I was carrying Rs 10,000 cash, all in denominations of Rs 100 notes. But most of the cash has finished as I had to manage the travel expenses of some of my other friends as well for they are yet to come to India,” she said.

In the wake of the paucity of cash inflow and lengthy queues, many foreign tourists had to shelve their plans and were seen on India ‘de-tour’ on Saturday in Paharganj, the most sought after place to stay for foreign nationals.

In one such instance, speaking to this correspondent, Adrain, a foreign national from Netherlands, said that it was horrible, running from one ATM to another to get money. “I have been running since morning and most of the ATMs had no money. By the time the money arrived, I had already missed my bus scheduled for sightseeing,” said Adrain, who, along with his friend, has been living in Paharganj in New Delhi. A group hailing from California alleged that one of their members was even duped by conmen, who, on the pretext of getting the currency exchanged, made away with their money. Let alone the travel, managing food expense, staying and commuting locally has also posed a great challenge for many of them now. “If you want to meet them, go to the ATMs nearby or Ashoka Hotel where you will find many of them queued in lines to get their currency exchanged. They leave the hotels in the morning and come back only after lunch, empty-handed,” said an employee of Plaza Hotel in Paharganj where a few international tourists had checked in and are facing a lot of trouble due to currency ban. The pinch of demonetisation was seen clearly in the bustling Paharganj market which houses scores of hotels and lodges where majority of the foreign tourist stay.