Planting silently with passion

Medak: One of the positive spin-offs of Tuesday's Independence Day celebrations was the official recognition of the indefatigable services of an unassuming private school bus driver as the hero of State environmental protection scheme, potentially making him a toast of the green brigades elsewhere.

The man in question, Alli Ramulu, was honoured as ‘Haritha Mitra’ for his outstanding contribution towards planting saplings and taking care of them. In fact, it is a mission that he began much before the prestigious Telanganaku Haritha Haram took shape in the State.

Fifty-year-old Alli Ramulu’s day begins at 5 am. He starts off his joyous ‘work’: planting, nurturing and protect the seeds he had sown and the saplings he had planted in Kucharam, his native village in Manoharabad mandal.

For about two hours, he waters the plants and ensures that the tender saplings are not eaten away by herds of grazing sheep and goats in the vicinity. In summer, he wakes up at 3 am and heads to water his babies (plants), carrying water in pots from a government-laid borewell and ensures that the plants don't wither away.

At 7.15 am, he switches to his professional duty of ferrying school children to the Cyberage School located in Medchal, which is 10 km away from his village. After duty, he resumes work on his undying passion: nurturing plants.

Ramulu has followed this regimen for four years. Till date, he has planted hundreds of saplings, some of which have already started giving shade. The areas he has picked for plantings include the school in his village, temples, roadside spots where people can rest and at locations for social gatherings.

Ramulu is not a person who had expected any financial assistance from anybody, not even the gram panchayat, for his efforts. “I used to borrow saplings from various sources before the start of Haritha Haram. After the commencement of the greening scheme of Telangana, he has been getting saplings from schools and other places.

The villagers of Kucharam have appreciated his efforts. They felicitated him some time back for his efforts. But, on Tuesday, during the Independence Day celebrations, he got official recognition as it were. According to him, District Collector Bharati Hollikeri herself found out about his work and selected him for being honoured as ‘Haritha Mitra’ as part of this year’s awardees for excellence during the ceremony.

He received a cheque for Rs 1 lakh in appreciation of his green initiative from District Collector Bharati Hollikeri, District SP Chandana Deepti and Deputy Collector Padma Devender Reddy on the occasion.

Ramulu hails from the Mudiraju community. Incidentally, he had to part with 1.5 acres of assigned land, as it was resumed by the government. He was then paid Rs 7 lakh as compensation. Although he was assured of a plot for construction of house by the government, that promise has not been kept till date.

“I just thought that, instead of wasting time by staying idle, I could do something productive. Hence, I started planting saplings and taking care of them. I am happy that my efforts have been appreciated,” he told The Hans India.

By Vivek Bhoomi