Tamil Nadu   

Postal woes

I have sent a letter by registered post (A/D) to Delhi (receipt No.1436) from Vellala Street, Purasawalkam Post Office on 16-5-2007. I did not receive the postal acknowledgment for more than three weeks. I have written to the Post Master concerned on 9-6-2007. There was no reply for a month. I have sent a second reminder on 9-7-2007.

I regret to say that of late, the very simple courtesy of acknowledging receipt of letters (leave alone their reply) is lacking in most of the Government Departments. The very purpose of sending a letter by registered post is defeated if the postal acknowledgment is not received.

I have recently sent about 80 letters under Book Post and many of them neither reached the addressee nor were returned to me. Where they have gone is a big question mark. Even though the department is having much less work because of the modern communication facilities such as ISD, STD, cellphone SMS, e-mail, Internet chatting, video conferencing, etc., the department is very much lacking in efficiency and promptness.

I request the authorities to try to work to the level of public satisfaction.

B. Srinivasan,

Purasawalkam

The problem of garbage controversy can be solved, if the zero waste concept is practised by the Corporation according to Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules 2000.

The Corporation should educate the public on self-composting of the wastes generated by them (such as kitchen waste) since two thirds of waste is recyclable and can be converted into organic manure usable to grow potted vegetable seedlings, greens, etc. Waste is not waste unless thrown on roads!

K. Ramadoss,

Ayanavaram

Residents have a constitutional and statutory right to live in a clean city, town and village.

Local bodies have a mandatory duty to collect and safely dispose of garbage and waste generated from various sources.

Non-availability of funds, inadequacy of staff, insufficiency of machinery, etc. cannot be cited as grounds for non-performing of their duties.

P. Viswanathan,

Chitlapakkam

Of late, the Civil Supplies Department is taking a long time in issuing new ration cards.

I have been knocking at the door of the department for the past nine months to get new ration card. The officials concerned give the same reply time and again that cards are in the printing stage.

Both ration card and electoral identity card are essential in getting a passport.

It is high time the Government acted swiftly in issuing new ration cards.

K. Ravi,

Choolaimedu

In the Adambakkam (NGO Colony), Keezh Kattalai, Nanganallur bus depots, used by MTC buses, are totally unusable as the roads within the depots are not properly laid and the entire ground area is strewn with potholes and water-logged during rainy days.

In Keezhkattalai a big bus stand has been constructed but very few buses are coming inside.

When these bus stands were constructed for the use of passengers residing at Ullagaram, Adambakkam, Madipakkam and Keezhkattalai, one wonders why the work of levelling roads has been left halfway and why the bus stands have become cattle sheds and rest houses for beggars.

It is high time that the Alandur municipal authorities and the MTC officials jointly undertook the work of ensuring clean and usable bus stands.

T. T. Varada Rajan,

Thillai Ganga Nagar

Parking has been difficult on the western side of the Mambalam Railway Station for the last several years. With the broad gauge conversion, the traffic volume has increased manifold but the space for parking hasn’t increased in spite of availability of plenty of land with the railways. Recently some development work has been undertaken, which is only to the extent of breaking big boulders which has decreased the space and made parking all the more difficult.

Adding insult to injury, a well laid-out cemented parking area near the staircase on the western side, which was catering for users of the booking counter and people who park for a shorter duration of upto two hours, has been closed. The parking fee for a two-wheeler was till recently Rs.3, which has been hiked to Rs.4 and for cycles it has been hiked from Re.1 to Rs.2. A railway season ticket from Mambalam to Beach cost Rs.234 for three months. Assuming that a person travels for 25 days in a month, for the three month period he has to shell out Rs.300 as parking fee for his vehicle.

Is it not unfair on the part of the authorities to charge such a hefty sum and still not provide reasonable service. That is, the railways is making more money from an incidental service than from running trains.

K. Lakshminarayanan over email

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