At a time when the Department of Posts is trying to widen its services so as to stay useful in the era of online communications, the Sub Post Office at Vellayil here is the ultimate picture of neglect and lackadaisical approach of the authorities.
The post office, which offers almost all services of the department, is situated in a building that may crumble any moment. The old building is so dilapidated that termites have eaten up a large part of the wooden structure of the roof. The branches of a nearby tree have grown into the roof and unsettled the tiles. The walls have not been painted for at least a decade and the plastering is wearing off. The premises are covered in unwanted shrubs and small trees and badly needs a clean up. The well behind the building too is in unusable condition.
“This building is around 90 years old. It was closed down in 2003 and was reopened following public demand, in 2006. But since then, the authorities have turned a blind eye,” said Sudheer Sekhar Palakkandy, a resident of Vellayil, who has been fighting a lone battle to get the post office on track.
The dilapidated building is a threat to the lives of the two employees working in the office. They are making do by covering the roof with flex sheets and inserting metal rods where the wooden structures used to be. Even the visitors are under the threat.
The department had plans to build a parcel hub in the 30 cents plot behind the sub post office. However, the plan never materialised. “The parcel hub, if set up, will be quite profitable to the department, considering the number of government offices and institutions in its proximity,” Mr. Sudheer said.
At present, the post office is just a dispatch centre with no delivery service. The delivery to this area is from the Nadakkavu post office. The department has paid no heed to the requests from local people to start delivery service here.
Meanwhile, the local officials of the department seem to be clueless about the whereabouts of the sub post office or the parcel hub. An official at the office of the Director of Postal Services in Kozhikode said that the plans for the parcel hub was in cold storage.
On the other hand, neither the Director nor the Senior Superintendent of Post Offices were available for comments.