An endless wait for a building of its own

Chennai 31/12/2012-- Proposed premises for Parthasarathy Koil Post Office at Car Street, Triplicane in Chennai. . Photo: K_V_Srinivasan

Over the past three years, several residents of Triplicane have had a question on their minds that has gone unanswered: when will the Parthasarathy Koil post office start functioning from its own premises?

Though a new building was selected for the nearly century-old post office several months ago, it continues to function out of a counter at the Triplicane post office.

Patronised by several senior citizens, the post office, named after a temple, was to begin operations at a building owned by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department (HR and CE) on Car Street, Triplicane. But the wait, say residents, seems endless.

Since the post office has been confined to within Triplicane post office, several senior citizens say they have had to walk at least 2 km to carry out postal transactions.

T.J. Ramani, a resident of Triplicane, said that people living in over 25 streets, including Venkatarangam Pillai Street, T.P. Koil Street and Sunguvar Street, walk or pay exorbitant amounts for an autorickshaw ride to get to the counter.

Pensioners said they had to walk on the busy bus route road or shell out Rs. 30-40 for the distance. Having their post office on Car Street would make it much easier for them, they said. Besides carrying out postal transactions, several residents use the post office to pay their electricity and telephone bills.

The post office acquired its name as it was first housed in a building owned by temple authorities on Big Street. In 2004, it was shifted to a building on Hanumantharayan Koil Street after the earlier structure became dilapidated. In 2010, following a burglary, the post office was once again shifted to its present premises at the Triplicane post office.

Officials of the postal department said that the post office, which has over 3,000 saving accounts, will function in a 500 sq.ft. space on the ground floor of the new building belonging to the HR and CE department. The facility will have four postal staff members. “We are waiting for the HR and CE department to hand over the premises after which we will begin operations in a few days,” an official said.

An official of the HR and CE department said the proposal to start the post office has been sent to the government. Once the government order is obtained, the post office would begin operations there.