Paradip, Sept. 19: As troubled waters continue to swirl, the department of post here is in a quandary. It is flooded with thousands of undelivered letters and money orders that were earmarked for dispatch to areas that have borne the brunt of flood.

Undelivered letters have been swelling since September 9 when the floodwaters severed Tirtol, Kujang, Garadpur, Patkura and Mahakalpada blocks in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts from the rest of the world.

The situation remains more or less the same even 10 days later. Like stranded people, the letters have remained inside gunny bags of Railway Mail Services (RMS) offices in Paradip and Kendrapara.

“The number of undelivered letters has gone up to more than 60,000. This includes important registered post letters and money orders. The undelivered posts were about one lakh a couple of days back. With waters receding, we have begun the process of delivery in flood-affected villages. About 500 money orders are yet to be dispatched as the location of their receivers is in cut-off areas,” said Saroj Kanta Swain, subordinate record officer, RMS.

“The letters that haven’t been delivered are designated for dispatch to worst affected areas such as Raghavpur, Madana, Bedari, Tikhiri, Ameipala, Patalipanka, Samantaraypur and several other sub-post office areas. Once communication links are restored, they will be distributed expeditiously,” said Zahid Hussein, assistant postmaster, Kendrapara head post office.

“While road connectivity has slowly been restored in flooded villages after waters receded, villages located in and around the breached river embankments are still not accessible by road. Delivery of mail is still affected in those villages. We have decided to send postmen in boats that are carrying relief material so that letters and money orders may reach their destinations as early as possible,” he added.

Swain said they were trying to dispatch money orders on a priority basis because the cash may come in handy for its flood-affected receivers.

As many as 78 sub-offices and branch village post offices have been affected by the flood. Village branch post offices have suffered the maximum damage as most of these function from rented thatched houses. Only after the floodwaters recede completely could the damage be assessed, said official sources.

“My two sons are stationed in Dubai and in Hyderabad. They are settled there and make decent earnings. Both of them could not rush to the village because of their jobs. However, they had sent money orders to help us out. But we are yet to receive them. We are waiting patiently for the postman to come knocking,” said Hrushikesh Mahapatra, 65, of Samantaraypur village near Paradip.