Nepal Hydropower Crisis
Related coverage: 4 countries, 5 sources
This topic isn't active right now. Last covered Sep 3, 2026. See today's headlines.
Flooding in Nepal damages four hydropower projects, puts about Rs 6.5 billion in loans at risk and leaves 204 foreign workers missing. Rescue teams search tunnels and project sites, with most of the missing workers identified as Chinese.
More Than 1,100 Himalayan Hydropower Projects Raise Fears for Asia’s Water Tower
The Himalayas, known as Asia’s water tower, now host more than 1,100 hydropower projects that are operating, under construction or planned. The concentration of facilities is drawing renewed scrutiny after devastating floods and landslides struck the Nepal-China border region. The Hindu Kush-Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau feed 11 major rivers and supply water to as many as 3 billion people. Their gl…
The desperate mission to find survivors in Nepal’s underground hydropower tunnels
Rescuers in Nepal are digging through a landscape where entire power stations have disappeared from view, searching for more than 900 workers feared trapped underground after catastrophic flooding nea…
Many trapped workers may still be alive at Nepal hydropower plant, official says
Rescuers in Nepal believe 46 workers trapped for a week inside an underground chamber at the Rasuwagadhi hydropower plant may still be alive. Nepal Electricity Authority board member Amhsu Kiran Shahi…
Nepal rescue teams race to reach workers feared trapped in hydropower tunnels
Rescuers have reached about 150 metres into tunnels at several hydropower projects in flood-hit Nepal, but unstable debris and rising water continue to block their path to workers feared trapped under…
Repeated Accidents at Mountain Hydropower Projects Make a Full Review Inevitable
Hydropower projects in the Himalayas can make disasters worse rather than simply suffer their effects, according to Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, …
Rasuwa floods: Rescue teams push into dangerous hydropower tunnels
A week after catastrophic flooding along Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River, rescuers are still pushing into tunnels where large rocks, debris and rising water have made every metre difficult. The Nepali Army, …
