Puri: Collector Balwant Singh Monday felicitated 85-year-old Sakubai Deshmukh from Maharashtra for her efforts to clean the beach here.
A photo showing the octogenarian in action on the beach carrying a basket full of garbage was tweeted by the Collector and it soon went viral.
Tourists and pilgrims visit the Holy City every day, but some like Sakubai are exceptional who take pains to clear the city and the sea beach.
Sakubai, a follower of Shantigiri Maharaj, a saint of Ellora, Maharashtra, was in Puri along with other two thousand devotees.
During her stay, she went out of her way to give the beach a neat and clean look. Besides being praised by the onlookers for her efforts even at this old age, she has become a byword for beach scavenging.
Sakubai is a native of Kumbharadi village under Deola taluk in Nasik district. Her family comprises three sons, five daughters, eight grandsons and 15 grand daughters. Her husband Bhairav Deshmukh died when their youngest daughter was just one year old.
She is known as a successful farmer in her taluk. She grows maize and millet on her ancestral land of six acres.
According to her, she had come to the gurukul on the premises of the ashram in Ellora for one month only. But she went on to spend 11 months there, serving the students. During her stay, she and other followers paid a visit to Puri.
“I am happy for spending some quality time here and I urge the visitors coming to this beautiful city should ensure that the environment is litter free,” she said.
The Collector also felicitated some of her followers who assisted Sakubai in her herculean effort.
