Bengaluru, Nov. 15 -- Renowned environmentalist and Padma Shri awardee Saalumarada Thimmakka passed away at a private Bengaluru hospital on Friday at the age of 114. Thimmakka was being treated for prolonged illness until she passed away, her family said. Thimmakka was born on June 30, 1911, in Gubbi taluk in Tumakuru district. With no formal schooling and unable to have children, she began planting saplings with her husband Bikkala Chikkayya along a 4.5-km route on the State Highway 94 from Kudur to Hulikal in Bengaluru South district. Over 80 years, she reportedly planted and tended to 385 banyan trees and 8,000 other trees with the tenderness she said she would have given her own children. Thimmakka was honoured with several awards, including the Padma Shri in 2019, the Nadoja Award from Hampi University in 2010, the National Citizen Award in 1995 and the Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award in 1997. The Central University of Karnataka announced an honorary doctorate for Thimmakka in 2020. Thimmakka was also appointed Karnataka's environment ambassador with a government cabinet rank in 2022.htc...