Rescue Operations Remain Difficult at Flood-Hit Hydropower Projects, 933 Still Missing: IPPAN

Dragon Media Correspondent

The devastating flood of Bhadra 10 has caused extensive physical and human losses at operational and under-construction hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. According to the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN), 933 people associated with the affected projects remained missing as of Saturday evening. Search and rescue operations are continuing in tunnels, powerhouses, camps and construction areas across the disaster zone.

At the Chilime Hydropower Centre, rescuers had still been unable to reach people believed to be trapped inside the powerhouse on the 11th day after the flood. Adverse weather, completely disrupted road connections and difficulties in transporting personnel and equipment have slowed the operation. A 21-member team comprising Nepal Army and Indian Army personnel is manually removing mud and debris from the powerhouse access tunnel.

Only about 100 metres of the approximately 250-metre access tunnel leading to the Chilime powerhouse has so far been cleared. Rescue work has also been delayed because a large excavator cannot be brought to the tunnel entrance. With conditions unsuitable for large helicopters to land, authorities are attempting to transport essential materials and equipment to the site using smaller helicopters.

Meanwhile, a Chinese national has been rescued alive from a desander basin at the flood-damaged Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project. The company said the rescue became possible after teams pumped out water and mud from the basin. Two bodies were also recovered from the downstream section of the same area.

A total of 1,433 people were working at the Upper Trishuli-1 project site before the flood, of whom 878 have so far been rescued. Search operations continue around the tunnels and headworks, involving Korean personnel, Sherpa rescuers, search teams and drone units. Special cameras and trained search dogs have also been deployed.

Conditions are also difficult at the Upper Trishuli-3 ‘B’ project. Three small excavators are digging around the project camp and office areas, but even after excavation to a depth of four metres, rescuers have been unable to locate the remains of the buildings. The inability to move a large excavator into the area has further complicated the search.

At the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project, a rescue team comprising Nepal Army personnel, former project employees and a geologist reached the powerhouse by helicopter. Inside, they found large quantities of mud, silt, timber and debris deposited by the flood. The control room has been completely buried under mud and silt.

Earlier estimates suggested that between four and 14 people could be trapped inside the Rasuwagadhi powerhouse, but the rescue team has so far found no one. With roads, tunnels and access routes to powerhouses simultaneously damaged by the disaster, transporting heavy equipment to the affected sites has emerged as one of the biggest challenges facing ongoing rescue operations.