Who is Swami Prem Parivartan aka 'Peepal Baba' and why is he attracting attention on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway

The Delhi-Dehradun Expressway is expected to significantly speed up travel between the two cities. But while the highway has drawn attention for its scale and the time it will save commuters, one environmentalist along the route is quietly working on something entirely different. Swami Prem Parivartan, better known as Peepal Baba, says he has planted 40,000 sheesham trees along the highway. Now he wants to add another four million.

Who is Swami Prem Parivartan, popularly known as Peepal Baba?

What makes his endeavor unusual is the way he approaches it. Peepal Baba and his team often work at night, digging the soil and planting saplings under the cover of darkness. Speaking at the 11th annual Himalayan Echoes festival, he described how the team manages to get work done before dawn.

“By 10:30 at night we’re digging, by 4 o’clock we’ve done it,” he said.

According to him, the next phase of planting is planned for February 2027. The aim is to plant four million more trees along the Dehradun highway.

Peepal Baba’s relationship with trees dates back to his childhood. Born Swami Prem Parivartan, he started planting trees when he was just 10 years old. His first recorded plantation was on January 26, 1977 when he planted a tree at Pune Military Station.

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Over the years, what started as a childhood interest has become a lifelong mission. He eventually founded the Give Me Trees Trust, which works with volunteers to plant and protect trees across India.

He earned the name Peepal Baba because of his many years of work with peepal trees. However, his plantation moves are not limited to just one variety. His organization works with several indigenous species, including banyan, neem, jamun and sheesham.

According to the Give Me Trees Trust, her work has helped plant and preserve around 25 million trees. The organization also works with schools, colleges and local communities to encourage people to start plantations and care for the seedlings after they are planted.

Peepal Baba also wrote about his experiences in his book Ghosts on Peepal Trees: My Journey from Folktales to Forests. Much of his work focused on a simple idea: planting a tree is just the beginning. It also needs to survive and grow.

Why are they planting trees along the Delhi-Dehradun highway?

The plantation drive comes at a time when the environmental impact of the Delhi-Dehradun highway has been under discussion. The 213 km long corridor, built at a cost of more than ₹12,000 crore, is designed to reduce the journey between Delhi and Dehradun from over six hours to around two and a half hours.

The highway also passes through areas that are important for wildlife. To reduce the impact of the project, it includes a 12 km elevated wildlife corridor, animal crossings and dedicated elephant underpasses.

However, the construction also included the removal and transplanting of trees. In a parliamentary response in July 2025, the Department of Road Transport and Highways reported that 17,913 trees had been felled or replanted.

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year of the project. He also mentioned compensatory afforestation on an area of 157.2 hectares and plans for 50,600 avenues within the highway right-of-way.

This is where Peepal Baba’s work on the route becomes particularly relevant. He wants to bring more greenery to the stretch and believes tree planting should be part of how people think about major infrastructure projects.

His approach is not limited to planting as many trees as possible. He also spoke about the need to protect older trees and pointed out that a mature tree cannot be replaced overnight by planting a new one. Seedlings need years of care before they can offer the same shade and ecological benefits.