Saalumarada Thimmakka awarded honorary doctorate by Central Uni of K'taka

Bengaluru: The 108-year-old Karnataka-based environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka was awarded a doctorate by the Central University of Karnataka (CUK). The university officials handed over the doctorate at her residence in Bengaluru.

CUK Vice Chancellor HM Maheshwaraiah, Linguistics Professor Rajeshwari Maheshwariah, Basavaraj P Donur, Dean, School of Humanities and Languages, and Vikram Visaji, Associate Professor, were among those present to confer the honour on Thimmakka.

Saalumarada Thimmakka, also known as Aalada Marada Timakka, is an Indian environmentalist, noted for her work in planting and tending to 385 banyan trees along a four-kilometre stretch of highway between Hulikal and Kudur. She has also planted nearly 8000 other trees. With the support of her husband, she found solace in planting trees.

Thimmakka received no formal education and worked as a casual labourer in a nearby quarry. Her work has been honoured with the National Citizen’s Award of India. Her work was recognized by the Government of India and she was conferred with Padma Shri in 2019.