Kathmandu: A rescue team found no one inside the tunnel of the flood-affected Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project (RHPL) in Rasuwa, while the fate of 93 people working on the project remains unclear.
“The rescue team led by the Nepali Army has returned after searching the tunnel of the 111-MW flood-affected project in Rasuwa and finding no people inside,” the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said on Monday.
The Army team, accompanied by engineers and a drone team, launched the search after it was suspected that people could be trapped at the far end of the tunnel following flooding in the Bhote Koshi River.
The team reached the innermost section of the tunnel, including its endpoint, and conducted a search using drones.
“However, no signs of human presence were found during the operation,” the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said.
After confirming that no one was inside the tunnel, the rescue team concluded the search operation and returned to Dhunche in Rasuwa.
Nepal has been carrying out search and rescue operations for people believed to have been trapped inside 11 flood-affected hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors.
According to the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN), a representative association of private-sector power developers, a total of 897 people employed at 11 hydropower projects in the flood-affected districts of Rasuwa and Nuwakot remain out of contact.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), seven Indian and 15 Chinese nationals who were trapped in hydropower projects were rescued on Sunday.
At the request of the Nepali government, Indian and Chinese tunnel technicians arrived in Nepal and have been engaged in rescue efforts to evacuate people trapped inside hydropower tunnels.
An Indian tunnel rescue team has continued search and rescue operations to save people trapped inside tunnels at different hydropower projects following the devastating floods in the Bhote Koshi River last week, the Indian Embassy said on Monday.
“The tunnel rescue team from India worked with the Nepali Army’s team to conduct search and rescue operations at hydropower tunnel sites in the Chilime and Langtang areas today,” the embassy said, adding that the team would continue search and rescue operations in close coordination with the Nepali Army.
(IANS)
