CHOORALMALA: ‘Santhosh, Madathil House, Mundakkai, Vellarmala’ was an address that he was in search of the entire day. There was another addressed to Abdu Rahiman Cheriparamba, S/O Rayin, Cheriparamba, Mundakkai PO, Vellarimala, Wayanad.
It was a day of mixed emotions for P T Velayudhan, the Mundakkai postman, as he spent the whole day going from camp to camp, searching for the two addressees. Himself a survivor of landslide, no one knows better than him just how eagerly people wait for letters. He couldn’t locate Abdu Rahiman who went missing in the landslides. So was the case with Santhosh initially. Somehow he got information that Santhosh had received treatment at the Wayanad Medical College Hospital after the disaster. After office hours, Velayudhan found that Santhosh was safe with a relative at Arapetta. “I will now deliver the letter to him tomorrow,” he said.
The Mundakkai post office, which was destroyed in the recent landslide, was temporarily relocated to Chooralmala on Wednesday. The post office’s relocation has created hurdles in the delivery of mail. As many of the recipients are currently in relief camps, Velayudhan found it difficult to locate them.
For the past 33 years, he has been the postman at Mundakkai. As the service restarted, he has been assigned the task of delivering letters to the local residents. Despite his experience, Velayudhan had trouble locating the recipients due to the sheer lack of information. The post office receives many letters for the residents of Mundakkai. The letter addressed to Abdu Rahiman was from a bank, while the one to Santhosh was from the Motor Vehicle Department.
“Many of the people at the camps do not have phones, making it extremely challenging to track them down. But, we are committed to delivering the letters by any means,” he added.
Velayudhan himself is a survivor of the landslide. A resident of Chooralmala, he lost his house in the disaster and has since been staying with relatives.