Government has not kept its promises - environmentalist Thimmakka

Government has not kept its promises - environmentalist Thimmakka

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, July 24, 2012 : Salumarada Thimmakka, a widely acclaimed environmentalist who is now 100 years old, complains that the BJP government did not keep its promise of establishing a hospital in Hulikal in Magadi in Bangalore Rural.

She was interacting with media persons after inaugurating the Students’ Forum at Government First Grade College in Hiriyadka in Udupi on July 23, Monday.

She said that she has been urging the state government to construct a government hospital in her village Hulikal, which has a population of 3,500, for the past eight years.

Ballur Umesh, her grandson, said that the government must do something for his grandmother when she was alive. Instead, the government did not even keep its promises.

It may be recalled that, when B. S. Yeddyurappa became the CM, he had promised a house in Surya in Bangalore and a hospital for Hulikal in recognition of Salumarada Thimmakka’s contributions to the environment.

When D. V. Sadananda Gowda took over, he sanctioned Rs. 5 lakh to Thimmakka, but she is yet to receive the money. Besides, she is still waiting for the hospital and the house.

Thimmakka says that she planted 800 trees in Hulikal with her husband, the late Chikkanna. Besides an old age pension of Rs. 400 per month, she has got nothing from government, she adds.

When asked about her health and fitness secrets, the centenarian said that she eats ragi mudde twice daily.