There was a time when the telegraph offices used to buzz with activities all the time. But now the telegraph offices wear a deserted look with workers spending relaxed hours.

With the advent of fax and internet the purpose of sending telegram has dwindled. But still there are several telegraph offices in the city. There are two types of telegram offices -- central and international.

Central offices deal with telegrams at district levels. The only international telegraph office of the country is in Gulistan in the city. For any international telegram, all district level offices send messages to this office through fax. The messages are then sent abroad through telegraph.

On Sunday morning workers and officials were seen working at the International Telegraph Office at Gulistan. Some of them were typing telegram messages in F13 format, a code used for sending telegram. Some were working with telephone bills.

"It is not true that telegram is not sent at all now. We do send telegrams but not like before. There was a time I had been so busy, you would not have had the chance to talk with me," said an official, working at the office since 1970.

Business firms have stopped sending telegrams a long time ago. At present, bank correspondence, international tenders and some foreign government office deals are sent through telegrams because these jobs need documents.

Till 1965 Morse code was used to send telegram but now F13 format is used.

In 1965, there were 11 international circuits in this office including 2 for London but now there are only 3 -- for Kolkata, Dubai and Rome. The number of circuits started going down since 1995 with the advent of modern technology.

It costs Tk 4 per word to send a message to Dubai and Rome and Tk 1.5 to Kolkata. In case of urgent telegram the charges are double.

Last time a circuit designated for Japan was closed down on May 1 this year because telegram services in Japan were shut down. If a country shuts down its telegraph services then telegram can be sent to that country via other countries but that is more costly.

Earlier, there was over 200 staff working in this office including 10 engineering supervisors whose job is to supervise the whole thing. But now there are only around 75 staff in this office including 2 supervisors.

"If we retire, which is imminent, there will be no successor to replace us as the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has stopped recruiting new people since 1980," said the official.

"We were not told anything officially about closing down recruitment but we can guess it is the demand of telegram services that is going lower every day," he said.

Previously, Overseas Correspondents Association Bangladesh was one of the main customers of telegraph office. There was a special section to serve the reporters.

At present the monthly traffic of telegram from this office is around 1,500, both incoming and outgoing, through 4 teleprinter and 3 fax machines. The office is open 24 hours a day.