Karnataka-based environmentalist ‘Saalumarada’ Thimmakka who has received many recognitions, including the Padma Shri award last year, was awarded a doctorate by the Central University of Karnataka. The 108-year-old was handed the doctorate by university officials at her residence in Bengaluru.
The environmentalist, who is also popularly called ‘Saalumarada’; meaning rows of trees in Kannada, is known for growing close to 400 banyan trees and protecting them on a 4-km stretch between Hulikal and Kudur near her husband’s hometown in Tumakuru district. She is also known as the mother of trees. Thimmakka and her husband do not have children and they started spending their evenings tending to trees until they grew sturdy.
Thimmakka has won the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, the Nadoja Award from Hampi University and the National Citizen Award from the Government of India, among other national and international accolades. Her work has inspired many others to take up environmental causes in the country.
In 2019, intervention from Saalumarada Thimakka led to the decision by then Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy to save hundreds of trees which were at the risk of facing the axe courtesy of a road widening project near Bengaluru.
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