While regular mail continued to stack up at post offices, phone calls were made for registered letters and people were asked to collect their mail from open windows. P B Kanade, post master, Gandhi Bhavan and Kothrud, was the lone man holding fort while around 40 of his colleagues sat outside basking in the winter sun.

``It is a 100 per cent strike,'' he said, maintaining however that essential services like registry windows and delivery of parcels and money orders were being tended to. Sources at the General Post Office confirmed that more Home Guards were being awaited. Lack of experience and non familiarity with local addresses has not helped make the situation better.

Meanwhile, a letter circulated by Post Master General V Sadashivam stated that the strike that is taking place to protest against redeployment of staff to make up for the load in suburban areas was uncalled for.

On the intervention of the union, redeployment has been stopped statistics are being collected, says the note.