Telangana green crusader Vanajeevi Ramaiah’s followers want last rites to be conducted with full State honours

Ramaiah passed away in his sleep at the age of 87 at his residence at Reddypalle in Khammam rural mandal

Khammam: The followers of green crusader Padma Shri Vanajeevi Ramaiah, who passed away on Saturday, have asked the State government to perform his last rites with State honours.

Former CBI Joint Director VV Lakshmi Narayana, who expressed condolences over the demise of Ramaiah, tagged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and PMO on social media and suggested the government to honour his legacy by conducting the last rites with full State honours.

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He also wanted a memorial in his name. He described Ramaiah as a symbol of simplicity and tireless dedication to environmental protection.

Ramaiah passed away in his sleep at the age of 87 at his residence at Reddypalle in Khammam rural mandal. He usually wakes up early in the morning, but did not wake up in the day and failed to respond when the family members tried to wake him up.

He was rushed to the Government General Hospital, where the doctors confirmed that he died of a heart stroke.

Ramaiah was known for his love plants and planted over one crore saplings. In recognition for his love for nature the Indian government honoured him with the fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 2017.

District Ministers Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy expressed grief over Ramaiah’s demise, while Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao visited the village and paid floral tributes to him.

Former MP Nama Nageswara Rao, Khammam and Kothagudem BRS district presidents Tata Madhusudhan and Rega Kantha Rao extended condolences to his family. They said his death was a great loss to Telangana as well as to the nation.

The students of Priyadarshini Women’s Engineering College, Khammam MP R Raghuram Reddy, Kothagudem’s Prakruti Ashram founder Jayaraju, its coordinator G Suguna Rao, Mokkala Venkataiah, Srirangam Sampath Kumar and others also expressed grief over Ramaiah’s death and recalled his association with the ashram.

Ramaiah’ followers wanted a National Park to be established in Khammam city, his birthday be declared as Telangana Green Day, to provide financial incentives to his family and to launch ‘Operation Vanajeevi’, to plant one crore saplings every year.

The last rites of Ramaiah will be held at Reddypalle at 10 am on Sunday.