Century-old post office finds home

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

A nearly century-old post office in Triplicane will once again have a premises to itself. The Parthasarathy Koil post office, patronised by many senior citizens, will begin functioning from a building owned by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department on Car Street, Triplicane.

The postal department is currently working out modalities to provide the separate premises.

The Parthasarathy Koil post office has been functioning on the premises of Triplicane post office on Triplicane High Road for nearly two years now. The post office acquired its name as it was first housed in a building owned by temple authorities on Big Street, said T.J. Ramani, a resident of Triplicane. 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, this time to the premises of the Triplicane post office.

Several senior citizens of Triplicane conducted a two-year-long struggle to convince authorities to allot a separate building for the post office. Many of them had to undergo considerable difficulty due to the shifting.

“Senior citizens had to walk a distance of at least 2 km more to carry out transactions in the dedicated counter in Triplicane post office. Hiring an autorickshaw was also an expensive deal as the drivers would charge a minimum of Rs. 30 for that short distance,” said R. Viswanathan, a pensioner. Many long-standing savings account holders were worried that the post office would be merged with another facility as has been often the case in recent times.

Officials of the postal department said the post office will function in a 500 sq. ft. space in the building that belongs to the HR and CE department. “We are working out modalities such as fixing of rent and provision of other infrastructure. Four postal staff members will attend to customers in two counters,” said an official.

Separate premises would encourage more people to carry out their transactions in the post office, which now has over 3,000 saving accounts, said officials.