India Post: GPS to keep track of mail vehicles

For the first time in the country, the movement of mail vehicles in Chennai will be monitored with the help of global positioning system.

Announcing this, Indira Krishnakumar, Principal Chief Postmaster-General, Tamil Nadu Circle, told reporters that at present, five vehicles were being monitored on a trial basis. If the arrangement was found successful, it would cover the other vehicles. The department was now operating 99 mail vehicles in the city.

The technology would come in handy for postal authorities as the vehicles had to cover 300 post offices all over Chennai. The GPS application would help the officials analyse the route pattern of the vehicles scientifically and, if necessary, corrective action would be taken. A majority of the vehicles would be covered by the year-end, she said.

A Chennai-based agency had been entrusted with the task of installing the GPS. The agency was working on a software program to suit the requirements of the department, senior officials said.

Noting that the rate for local mail through Speed Post now stood at Rs. 12, Ms. Indira Krishnakumar said that after the reduction of the tariff three months ago, the volume of traffic had increased by 30 per cent. A computerized passenger reservation system would be opened soon at the High Court post office and that at Sriperumpudur.

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