'Treeman of Telangana': Padma Shri awardee Daripalli Ramaiah passes away; tributes pour in

Khammam: Daripalli Ramaiah, also known as Vanajeevi Ramaiah (87), recipient of Padma Shri, passed away due to a heart attack in Khammam district on Saturday.

A native of Reddy Palli village in Khammam district, Ramaiah had planted over 1 crore saplings and created a new record. In 2017, Ramaiah was awarded the Padma Shri in recognition to his outstanding services.

Ramaiah aka Chetla Ramaiah was frequently seen riding his bicycle with saplings, pockets full of seeds, and a strong desire to transform arid places green.

Ramaiah read a great deal of books about plants and became an expert on his own, even though he only studied until Class 10. In order to purchase seeds and saplings, he even sold his three acres of property.

During his lifetime, Ramaiah practiced the doctrine of protecting the trees with utmost commitment. Ramaiah has been suffering from ill health for some time. He fell ill again this morning at his residence in Khammam.

Ramaiah was rushed to Khammam Government Hospital by his family members, but he died while undergoing treatment there. With his love for plants, he decorated himself with boards highlighting the importance of plants and constantly worked to protect the environment.

For the last five years, Ramaiah tirelessly tried to grow plants by scattering seeds. Ramaiah used to collect seeds in the summer and scatter them in the respective areas as soon as the seeds ripened. He can even eloquently tell the history of 120 types of plants, environmentalists said.

Recently, the Telangana government has included Ramaiah’s life story in the curriculum for class 6. On several occasions, Ramaiah said that his goal is to plant three crore saplings. Nature lovers are in mourning after the death of Ramaiah.

Taking on his X account Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, "Daripalli Ramaiah Garu will be remembered as a champion of sustainability. He devoted his life to planting and protecting lakhs of trees. His tireless efforts reflected a deep love for nature and care for future generations. His work will keep motivating our youth in their quest to build a greener planet. My thoughts are with his family and admirers in this sad hour. Om Shanti."

Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy condoled the passing away of Padma Shri Vanajeevi Ramaiah and said that the demise of Vanajeevi was an irreparable loss to the society. He stated that Daripalli Ramaiah, well known as Vanajeevi, was a firm believer that humans could not survive without nature and the environment.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), expressed deep sorrow over Vanajeevi Ramaiah's death and praised his unprecedented achievements to environmental conservation.

KCR also remembered how important Ramaiah was to the Telangana government's "Haritha Haram" afforestation initiative, which sought to increase the amount of green space in the state. Ramaiah's work was crucial in making the program more accessible to the general public.

Deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, former minister and BRS Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao, and other leaders expressed their condolences on Ramaiah’s death and hailed his services to the environment.