Back party that bats for a clean environment: Thimmakka

Mangaluru: As politicians and their supporters have embarked on a door-to-door campaign to garner support in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, noted environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka has urged the people to back a party that assures a clean environment.
In an exclusive chat with TOI during her recent visit to Mangaluru, the Padma Shri awardee asked voters to realise the importance of the Western Ghats and rejuvenation of water bodies, and support a candidate or a party that strives towards conservation of the environment.

The Padma Shri awardee rued that while irreversible damage was being inflicted on the Western Ghats and crores of rupees were being gobbled up in the garb of forest conservation and lake rejuvenation, the public on the other hand judged potential leaders on factors such as caste and community.

Asking people not to let politicians take them for a ride, especially at the onset of the poll season, the 107-year-old conservationist expressed her dissatisfaction over the fact that none of the political parties or independent candidates in this part batted for protection of environment in their election manifesto.

Umesh, Thimmakka’s adopted son and a recipient of the Karnataka Rajya Parisara Prashasti, said it was high time people moved beyond the politics of religion and caste, and strove towards promoting greenery. He wondered why the public did not realise that we had reached a stage where water had to be purchased, and why even children were suffering from diseases such as asthma.

The mother-son duo were hopeful that good sense prevail among the voters this time around.