The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Courier service

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Monday, Aug 11, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Courier service

Courier service has become ubiquitous thanks to the postal department’s inability to cater to the public properly.

There are many courier service companies and their employees are on the move day and night for delivery of articles.

The identity of the delivery persons should be known to the people and authorised by their companies. Security of these persons should be ensured and they should be able to move around without fear and being harassed by the police.

Here are a few suggestions: Courier service persons should wear uniforms/badges of the companies which have employed them. They should have their companies’ identification cards with their photos embossed on them. If the recipients of the articles could be contacted on telephones or mobiles, it will help the delivery people and save their time. The District Collector or the Commissioner/DIG of Police should issue an order to all courier companies on the above lines with a warning that failure to follow it will attract action under the Security Act.

C.M. Jeyaraam,

Secretary, Citizens’ Voice Club, Coimbatore.

Dam full, but no water

The photograph in your paper of Pilloor Dam overflowing was a treat to the eyes. Last year too the dam was full many times but the residents of Govindaswamy Naidu layout on Trichy Road who are supposed to be serviced by this reservoir are a disappointed lot.

Whether the dam is full or empty, our colony gets water once a week or in 10 days. We have written to the Corporation authorities, including the Mayor, many times about our plight but they are too busy attending functions with ministers or squabbling in the Corporation meetings to bother about our trivial problem.

Since July 2007 water supply to us has gone from bad to worse. On August 1 we received only a meagre quantum of water after the earlier supply on July 20 -- a gap of 11 days! We hope the authorities will wake up from their slumber and ensure that we get water on alternate days at least.

J.V.V. Murthy,

Coimbatore.

Defuse this bomb

I read with dismay reports of dyers letting out their effluents into lakes and River Noyyal.

There has been a mushroom growth of unauthorised dyeing units in Coimbatore town. Some let their effluents into toilet soak pits or unused bore wells or wells. Some let it out in the open ground.

This will lead to polluting Coimbatore’s water table directly. This is nothing but another Orathupalayam bomb waiting to explode. The original Orathapalayam dam is in an isolated area which is now uninhabitable. A.P.Suresh,

Coimbatore.

Plea for a forum

This is with reference to the letter of Shankar Vanavarayar (July 7) and further progress in the city. But what about the panchayat areas? For example, the Asokapuram panchayat (with 13 ward members) does not have even a single dustbin. Dust and garbage are blown into the faces of senior citizens when they go walking. Garbage and plastic materials have been dumped at every road junction. I opine that at least The Hindu readers can form a forum and clean the areas.

A. Vellingiri,

Coimbatore.

Abandoned well

An abandoned well in Veerakeralam village, behind the post office, is being dumped with garbage and solid wastes since the last few years. The garbage mixes with the well water producing a foul smell. The ground water gets polluted causing water-borne diseases. I have taken up the matter with the panchayat president and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. The Board had directed the town panchayat to take necessary action. But nothing has been done so far to tackle the problem.

Ramesh Babu. V,

Coimbatore.

VOIP and IP camera

Broad band internet service providers in Coimbatore have to focus more on the value added services like VOIP (Voice over internet protocol) and IP cameras. In VOIP customers can make ISD calls at a cheap rate. The customer can fix the IP camera in his office or godown and see the happenings in any part of the world through his IP address. There is little awareness about these products. I hope the broad band service providers will concentrate more on these value added services.

Douglas Raja,

Coimbatore

Why this overdrive?

Kovai is indeed very proud of our hero Narain Karthikeyan. Sadly, we ordinary mortals do not have the same skills (though many drive fast enough to think so!) and find it very difficult to negotiate the ‘test tracks’ of Kovai roads. Just as we were slowly learning to negotiate potholes, trenches (for water lines left unfilled) and huge mounds covering sewer line inspection pits new challenges suddenly sprouted. Virtually overnight dozens of speed breakers, in a dozen designs, came up on our roads. A short stretch from Puliakullam to Race Course via Abdul Karim Road has 10 or more, sometimes just yards apart. What comes immediately to mind is the “beautification of road islands” – currently under much-needed modifications; creating “recreational facilities” at water bodies – currently, and in fact from inception, defunct. Or take “ban plastics” – slowly running out of steam in spite of very spirited and motivated citizen ventures like Siruthuli and RAAC, ‘Alagana Kovai. One wonders if the urgency to show immediate results outstrips planning when it comes to our civic bosses running the show.

M. Vania,

Coimbatore (Readers can mail to cbereaders@thehindu.co.in with address and phone number)

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