For The Love Of Nature - Auto Driver In Palakkad Honoured For Planting 23,000 Saplings

M Shyam Kumar of Palakkad is an auto rickshaw driver to dig out a living, However, what differentiates him from other auto drivers is the way he blends his profession and passion of planting together.

Palakkad has bagged this year's P V Thampy memorial award, which is made in the memory of a late journalist & Writer.

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The award comes for planting and nurturing over 23,000 saplings in the panchayat of Koduvayur, Perumvambu and Thenkurissi where Shyam Kumar rides his auto rickshaw on a everyday basis.

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He has this passion for planting trees for the past 20 years which happened after reading Virksha Ayurveda by Surapala. In an interview, he told that he plants the seeds of Neem, Jamun, Palmyra, Peepal and other varieties on roadsides and place a stick beside it and tie it to a plastic bottle with a small hole to water the saplings. He also said that he collects the seeds from the trees which he planted on the side of the roads. He always carries around 25 seeds to plant in a day.

Shyam Kumar is also actively participating in pond rejuvenation works in the area and also helps students in their NSS activities.

Similarly, This IFS officer has taken a new way of planting, IFS officer Parveen Kaswan is earning plaudits online and rightly so. He shared a photo of his personal visiting card and mentioned once planted, the visiting card grows into a bright basil plant.

IFS officer Kaswan shared a photo of his personal visiting card that will grow into a plant if buried into the soil. The idea in itself has earned a lot of appreciation and as well inspired many to make this initiative a permanent method to be used.