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🇳🇵 Nepal /Disasters & Emergencies

Rescue Efforts Continue at Flood-Hit Hydropower Projects in Nepal

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Flooding along Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River damaged 11 hydropower projects and a solar plant, with 942 people still unaccounted for, according to operators and industry officials.
  • Rescuers pulled two people alive from the Upper Trishuli-3A tunnel and recovered one body, while 39 people from the project remain missing.
  • Teams withdrew from the Langtang Khola project after floods swept away its powerhouse, camp and surface structures.

Rescue teams are still searching flooded tunnels and damaged hydropower sites along Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River, where 942 people, including project workers, remain unaccounted for. The Nepali Army, Armed Police Force and project technicians are working alongside Chinese, South Korean and Indian rescue teams.

At the 60-megawatt Upper Trishuli-3A project, rescuers entered a tunnel and pulled two people out alive. They also recovered one body, but 39 people from the project remain missing. An Armed Police Force team led by Head Constable Pawan Bahadur Tamang crawled through mud and debris for 15 to 20 minutes to reach the tunnel’s interior.

Every part of the plant is buried in mud and debris, and some areas are filled with rocks. We found mud, silt and debris throughout the tunnel.

· Ambar MahatThe Armed Police Force officer described conditions inside the Upper Trishuli-3A tunnel.

“Every part of the plant is buried in mud and debris, and some areas are filled with rocks,” said APF officer Ambar Mahat. He said mud, silt and debris filled the tunnel and that slabs above it had collapsed under the pressure of floodwater. The survivors were found near the powerhouse building. One of them, Sanjay Sah, said he had been inside the powerhouse and could not get out while helping others evacuate.

We did not hear any other voices.

· Ambar MahatMahat explained why rescuers found no further survivors in the tunnel.

Officials later said search teams had reached the far end of the tunnel but heard no other voices. After Army and APF personnel found nothing else, the formal search was called off, though project staff checked possible trapping points again without finding additional survivors or bodies.

At the 20-megawatt Langtang Khola project, Army and APF teams withdrew after searching areas where people might have been trapped. Developer Bijay Mohan Bhattarai said the flood swept away the powerhouse, camp and other surface facilities, leaving no structure. Two bodies had been recovered from the tunnel on Thursday. The project lost power two or three minutes before the flood struck, he said.

The powerhouse, camp and other structures were on the surface. Everything was washed away. There is no structure left.

· Bijay Mohan BhattaraiThe Langtang Khola developer described the destruction caused by the flood.
About this summary

Originally published by Kathmandu Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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