In his village Reddipalle in Telangana’s Khamam district, Daripalli Ramaiah is known popularly as “Chettu (tree) Ramaiah” or “Vanajeevi (forester) Ramaiah”. Though Ramaiah hasn’t kept a record of how many saplings he has planted, he says the number would have crossed 10 million or almost one tree for every third citizen of Telangana. “He used to pedal several kilometres to a barren spot where he would plant saplings and sow seeds. “I don’t know whether God is pleased with breaking a coconut, but I am sure He will be immensely pleased if we plant a tree,” Ramaiah says. “We have sold off our three-acre land to mobilise money for buying seeds and saplings,” Ramaiah says.

Source: Hindustan Times January 29, 2017 07:44 UTC