Devendra Gaonkar
devendra@herald-goa.com
VALPOI: The Valpoi post office building is in a dilapidated state for the past several years.
A portion behind the building has already collapsed and rain water seeps inside the building as the roof has leakages. However, the biggest risk comes from some poisonous snakes that find their way inside the building.
The Valpoi post office is a Portuguese-era building and located on the hilly area. Senior citizens face many problems to reach the post office and now locals have demanded a new post office in Valpoi town and not in this hilly area.
For the past several months there is no proper connectivity in post office and the server is completely down. Shortage of staff in post office has worsened the situation for the past one year. Only one lady staff works here, who facing loads of work.
Locals who visit the post office have to stand in a queue for many hours and often are forced to return home without completing their work. The postal service too is very bad and some locals do not even get their parcels and mails on time.
The Valpoi post office is a sub-office but offers all the postal services like delivery of mails and parcels, money transfer, banking, insurance and retail services. It is also provides other services including passport applications, P.O. Box distribution and other delivery services in Valpoi.
“We have to pay late fees for postal recurring deposit because of post office delay,” says Shamrao Gaonkar, a local.
“There is no proper BSNL connectivity in Valpoi post office for the past two months and because of this we are not able to avail of postal RD and register AD facilities. People are visiting the post office early in the morning and stand in a queue for long hours and often return home without completing their work. We want the government to take action,” says another local Diptesh Thakur.
“We are not happy the way Valpoi post office is functioning at present. It’s creating problems to old people. Since the space inside is small it gets congested and there is no place for people to stand properly in a queue. The government needs to act on this,” says Rama Sawant, a senior citizen.
“Valpoi post office looks like a haunted house. The heritage of the premises should be preserved, as it’s an old Portuguese-era structure and the renovation can be done without destroying its appearance. The post office compound wall should also be rebuilt,” says Sadguru Gurav, a youth.
