“As a lot of relatives of residents of Salt Lake stay abroad, we are getting a high volume of parcel bookings. We are starting a separate counter for international mail and parcels so that the customers do not have to stand long in the queue,” said Pandurang Chormale, senior superintendent, East Calcutta division of the department of posts.
Counter for stamp lovers
A philately counter was also inaugurated on the day where commemorative stamps and philatelic articles like masks, bags, T-shirts and caps bearing the India Post logo would be sold. Even rakhi envelopes are being sold for Rs 10 anticipating bookings for rakhi delivery ahead of the festival.
The counter would also offer the My Stamp facility, a popular initiative to sell individualised stamps in which a person’s photo would be clicked and printed next to an actual stamp.
Mail as outdoor theme
Tulsi Sinha Roy, civic co-ordinator for Ward 40, was also taken on a tour of the Philately Park that has come up inside the post office complex. “It was the idea of our post master general, Calcutta, Niraj Kumar,” Chormale said. Kaushik Kumar Mallik, system administrator, East Calcutta division was in charge of the planning and execution, along with his colleague Tapabrata Mandal.
The park, spread over about 1,200sq ft, took about four months to beautify according to the theme and was completed on April 22. “We used 80-85 stamps, mostly on nature and birds. To lend a natural feel, we added a wooden mini decorative bridge over a waterbody and used bamboo slices for a small gate. A birdhouse has been installed for winged creatures to perch on. Three colourful mailboxes and a traditional red mail box stand sentinel around the central showpiece of a tree with concentric circular steps at its base for people to sit on,” an official explained.
Sinha Roy recalled the hobby of stamp collection and letter-writing prevalent in her childhood days.
A similar international mail counter was also opened on the day at the Beleghata head post office.
