A visit to the Chembur post office revealed that piles of unclaimed fixed deposit receipts, letters from various parts of India and abroad, insurance documents and greeting and wedding cards are waiting to be collected. The post office has no choice but to wait the return of the two postmen since Sahakarnagar was their `beat' and only they know the area well, according to a postman.

Jyoti Shetty, a Sahakar Nagar resident, complained: ``We have been personally going to Chembur's main post office for the last one month. Many of my building residents are working people, whose important mail has been held up. How can both the postmen fail to turn up? There should be a replacement.'' Said another resident, ``We have been missing out on important maildue to the postmen's absence. For instance, a United Limited Insurance Policy cheque sent to us in April is yet to reach us. Similarly, my brother's passport, which we were expecting to receive last month, is yet to land. The post office tells us to come there and sort out the mail ourselves, but it isn't possible to do that all the time.''

Expressing helplessness over providing temporary replacements, the Additional Post Master General at Chembur, R D Manik, said they were miserably understaffed at the moment due to the holiday season. ``At present, at least 30 of the 75 postmen are on leave, and frankly, I don't know how we are carrying out our duties.'' Manik added the post office never lets postmen take leave simultaneously, but this case is unique. Of the two postmen, one went on leave in the first week of May, while the other has simply ``taken off'', he added. ``We have telegrammed him at his house, but he simply hasn't responded. There's little we can do but wait for them to return.''