“Whoever starts as a bus conductor in Tamil Nadu becomes famous,” said Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on a lighter note, as he presented the CNN-News18 Indian of the Year 2022 award in climate warrior category to Marimuthu Yoganathan on Wednesday.
The minister called Marimuthu “Rajinikanth of Climate Change”.
Like Marimuthu, superstar Rajinikanth, too, was a bus conductor in Tamil Nadu.
#IndianOfTheYear 2022: The award in #ClimateWarrior category goes to: #MarimuthuYoganathan, a bus conductor who has planted 3.5 lakh saplings!@gssjodhpur, Union Minister of Jal Shakti presents the awardWatch Live Here: ?YT: https://t.co/yaa6k6dYrk | @Zakka_Jacob pic.twitter.com/Hc2aMAjeaf
? News18 (@CNNnews18) October 12, 2022
Marimuthu, also popular as the ‘Tree Man of Tamil Nadu’, has planted over three lakh saplings in the past three decades at his own expense. He distributes the saplings for free to passengers travelling in his bus.
He has also visited countless schools, colleges and industries to raise awareness about protecting the environment.
While receiving the award, Marimuthu said in Tamil, “Over 36 years, I planted 3.5 lakh saplings.”
Other nominees in the category were noise activist Sumaira Abdulali, Padma Shri Jamuna Tudu who is fighting the timber mafia, Jadav Molai Payeng from Assam, who is credited with singlehandedly creating a forest reserve of 550 hectares in Assam’s Majuli island and 9-year-old Prasiddhi Singh, who is on a mission to conserve trees.
In a post-pandemic world, where climate change is emerging as a major concern, the category of climate warrior is a new addition to recognise individuals who are working on impactful and sustainable change.
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