Dalai Lama expresses sadness on loss of life in Bihar flood
DHARAMSALA, 12 Aug: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has expressed sadness at the loss of life and property caused by the flooding in the Indian state of Bihar and offered his prayers and condolences to the families who have lost the loved ones.
In a missive to the state’s Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, the Dalai Lama wrote that he “commends the state government and all those engaged in rescue work and the provision of relief to people affected by this natural calamity,” while expressing his deep condolences to the Chief Minister and the families that have lost loved ones in the devastating calamity.
As a mark of solidarity with the people of Bihar, the Tibetan Nobel Laureate has offered a donation from the Dalai Lama Trust towards the relief and rescue efforts.
The octogenarian Tibetan leader has further expressed his hope that steps are being taken to explore long-term solutions to such recurring calamity.
“Since such disasters seem to recur year after year, he hopes, as a friend and regular visitor to Bihar, that steps are being taken to explore long-term solutions to such calamities, which unfortunately deflect attention from other vital development initiatives,” the Tibetan leader’s office said in a statement on the official website dalailama.com.
The catastrophic deluge has resulted in the loss of 24 lives and affected lives of 75 lakh people across 16 districts, the Bihar government said.
Over 12,479 people have been rescued and shifted to relief camps till now as 33 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed across the state to carry out rescue and relief operations.
