E-Paper
Where have all the letterboxes gone?
THERE WAS a time when a number of letterboxes painted in red and white made their presence felt by hanging on a tree or on a pole. However, the sight of a letterbox at most of the corners of the city has now become rare. Citizens feel that number of letterboxes has declined and this forces them to travel a long way to post their letters.
THERE WAS a time when a number of letterboxes painted in red and white made their presence felt by hanging on a tree or on a pole. However, the sight of a letterbox at most of the corners of the city has now become rare. Citizens feel that number of letterboxes has declined and this forces them to travel a long way to post their letters.
Patron of Shyam Nagar Vyapar Mandal GK Gupta says people face a lot of difficulty in the Shyam Nagar due to absence of letterbox. He added that people had to travel to COD post office and it’s another hard task because they had to go through a security check.“I feel that a letterbox should be installed where human eye can catch it easily,” he adds.
While SN Rizvi from Tilak Nagar, finds letterboxes vanished from the city. “I travel from one corner to another and can’t see a single letterbox. “If I want some work done then it is beneficial to visit a post office directly,” he adds.
But for Ram Avtar, a Government employee, letterboxes hardly matter. He says that for mailing letters he prefers to go to a nearby post-office so there is no need to lookout for a letterbox. However, there are few lucky ones too like Vineeta, a resident of Police Colony, says she lives near a post office so letterbox never matters to her. “I am lucky that I do not require a letterbox in today’s life,” says Beena, a resident of Shivalya.
Though some people believe that in today’s scenario letter mailing concept sounds old-fashioned and feel that the existence of latest technology makes communication easier.
Pratap Singh, a resident of Shyam Nagar, says that letters are time-consuming and if required then he prefers courier services. He further says that people feel bit insecure to post a letter in a letterbox, as it might not be collected.
“I feel there is no place of letters in today’s life as a letter reaches its destination in five to ten days whereas through mobile and e-mail information reaches fast” says Pradeep Vishnoi.
Similarly, Mohit Dasgupta, a student feels lucky that he has taken birth in Hi-tech time.
Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, KK Yadav, however, says that number of letterboxes have not come down.
He says that monthly review (to check the performance of a letterbox in a particular area) is done and if the letterbox doesn’t get a good number of letters then it is shifted to an area of demand. He further says that before installing a letter-box they have to follow certain criteria and at present they have installed more than 800 letterboxes in urban and rural areas. However, Akhilesh Sharma, a resident of Shuklaganj, feels that General Post Office (GPO) of Kanpur is the only destination to post letters as it saves time. “I do face several problems but I know that from this place my letters will reach its destination early,” he adds.
