Udupi: To fund environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka’s cause, Udupi youth under the leadership of Anchor Avinash Kamath, raised funds in the name of ‘Neralu- Neravu Abhiyan’. The fund was raised with the help of campaigns carried out through social media and drop boxes.
Within a span of seven days, youngsters created a great impact in the society with social concern and collected around Rs 2 lakh. It is one of the best efforts by the youth to help the environmentalist and show their responsibility towards the society.
Naturalists say that, each tree planted by Thimmakka values up to Rs 1.75 crores. Thimmakka has earned recognition due to her untiring efforts in planting and tending to 284 banyan trees and is one of the biggest assets to the government of Karnataka.
Avinash said that though she was honored with the National Citizen’s Award of India for her work and the US environmental organization named themselves ‘Thimmakka Resources for Environmental Education’ after her, the actual fact is that she is a poor old lady with huge financial crises.
“The thought of the campaign came to us when I personally met her and saw her in a pathetic condition on September 25 at Bengaluru. Srikhanth and my few other friends thought about organizing a campaign and on October 2, we started the campaign on social media sites like FaceBook, WhatsApp groups and kept drop boxes at important places like banks, colleges and Big Bazaar. The response was tremendous”, he said.
“On October 3, I told my friend Gurunandan Bhat, an employee at Robosoft Technologies about the cause. Within 7 days, he was able to give collect Rs. 41,000 from his office employees. Another student from Kundapur collected around Rs 5000 from his college for the social cause. This motivated us more” Avinash added.
Umesh, Thimmakka’s adopted son said, “At this point, ajji is 105 year old. She has asthma, BP and other health issues. She is completely dependent on me. If I stay little away from her she panics. At this age, she needs more care and I make sure to give her maximum care. I was 13 years old, when she adopted me. I completed D.Ed, but I am not going for a job as she needs me all time. If I keep a nurse to look after ajji, they may not be committed like me.”
Thimmakka’s persistent work has earned her several national and international awards. Speaking about her present situation Umesh said, “After giving so much to nature and to the government, at her old age she gets Rs 500 as pension, which is not enough even for her BP medicine. She stays in a rented house. Now it is the turn of the state government to extend her help. However, there has been no response from the government as of now”. The youth has urged the government to pay attention to important leaders like Saalumarada Thimmakka who has spent her entire life making our surroundings healthier.
