KATHMANDU, Sept 2: A total of 894 people working at 11 hydropower projects are missing after floods in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers.
The highest number of missing workers, 73, are from the 216 MW Upper Trishuli 1 hydropower project.
Search and rescue operations have been hampered by the difficult conditions inside the project tunnels. Teams involving the Nepali Army, Armed Police Force, foreign technical experts and project employees have been conducting search and rescue operations, but they have yet to locate the missing workers.
Former president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN), Ganesh Karki, said rescue efforts have also been slowed because equipment cannot easily be transported to the tunnels.
He said locating the entrances to the tunnels has itself become difficult.
“The material carried by the river has reached over the tunnels,” Karki said. “It has become difficult even to determine the exact location of the tunnel entrances.”
Although foreign experts have been brought in for search and rescue operations, they have not been able to bring the necessary equipment to the sites, he said.
Rescue teams confront buried tunnels in search for missing hydr...
“Unlike other countries, Nepal does not have the required equipment,” Karki said. “It is not possible to take a 20-ton excavator there.”
A total of 42 people are missing from the 60 MW Upper Trishuli 3A project, 122 from the 37 MW Upper Trishuli 3B project and two from the 15.6 MW Middle Trishuli Ganga project.
Similarly, 93 people are missing from the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project.
According to IPPAN, four people are missing from the 120 MW Rasuwa Bhotekoshi project and 41 from the 20 MW Langtang Khola Hydropower Project.
Eight people are missing from the 22 MW Chilime Hydropower Project and seven from the 5 MW Mailung Khola project. One person each is missing from the 24 MW Trishuli Hydropower Project and the 14.1 MW Devighat Hydropower Project.
IPPAN President Mohan Kumar Dangi said search operations are continuing inside the tunnels of the Langtang Bhotekoshi, Upper Trishuli 1 and Upper Trishuli 3A projects.
“Teams involving the government, private sector and foreign experts are working to rescue those trapped inside the tunnels,” Dangi said. “But they have not yet achieved results.”
Search and rescue operations are also continuing at the Rasuwagadhi, Chilime and Upper Trishuli 3B projects.
The floods have affected eight operational and four under construction hydropower projects, with a combined capacity of 669 MW. Rescue operations have become particularly difficult because many of the project tunnels are inaccessible.
Rescue efforts continue at Upper Trishuli 3A
Work is continuing to rescue people trapped inside the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project tunnel. According to the Nepal Electricity Authority, workers have cleared the portal, or entrance, of the project’s main tunnel.
They have also carried out crown blasting inside the tunnel and used water pump sets to drain water accumulated in the cable tunnel.
Workers have removed rocks and soil piled up near the tunnel entrance and created a passage to allow rescuers to enter.
Despite continuous efforts by a team of technical experts, rescuers have not yet succeeded in reaching those trapped inside the tunnel.
According to Nepal Electricity Authority Acting Executive Director Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, the rescue operation has become more challenging because the tunnel has been filled with water.
Search operations at Rasuwagadhi and Chilime
At the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project, a rescue team led by the Nepali Army has entered the tunnel and conducted a search.
At the Chilime project, the Nepali Army, Armed Police Force, an Indian technical team and project technicians have been working to clear a route to the powerhouse.
The rescue team managed to enter about 90 metres into the 250-meter-long tunnel but could not proceed further.
According to Chilime Project Executive Director Baburaja Maharjan, workers have been taking equipment into the area as needed and clearing the route to the powerhouse.
Rescue efforts have been made more difficult because the flood swept away all the project structures.
Three people have been rescued from the Upper Trishuli 1 project.
