While the state of Kerala in India is recovering hard from the devastation caused by the unprecedented flood during the peak of the monsoon season this year, Tibetan communities across the country too collaborated their efforts to gather supports in the relief works to bring back normalcy in the state.
While more than 350 people were killed, most of them in landslides, since the monsoon started in June. Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan reported earlier that the number of people taking refuge in the 5,645 relief camps now stood at 725,000, while promising to save even the last people stranded after the flood devastated the infrastructure and livelihood they were living in.
In following up to the post hazard developments, the government of India decided to not receive aids in the relief works of the state from foreign governments. While the central government of India also promised to extend their full support to the state, various agencies across the country started their campaigns to gather support for the victims of the flood.
The Tibetan communities across the country too stood up to show their support and solidarity. Tibetan settlements in the state of Karnataka gathered immediate relief materials just after the flooded water started to recede and distributed to the affected people in Karnataka and Kerala.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama in late August wrote a solidarity letter to the Chief Minister of Kerala along with a monetary donation to The Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. In follow up to that, the Central Tibetan Administration also wrote a solidarity letter along with a relief fund donation of Rs. 5,00,000. Besides, Tibetan NGOs like the Tibetan Youth Congress held fund raising events within the Tibetan communities and handed over their donation collections to the Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan late September.
Photo: Tibetans distributing Relief materials for Flood Victims in Kerala and Karnataka
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