- Nearly 900 hydropower workers remain missing in Rasuwa and Nuwakot after floods and landslides buried project tunnels.
- Search teams are clearing massive debris and pumping water to reach hundreds of workers trapped inside the Upper Trishuli-1 project tunnels.
- Damaged infrastructure and blocked access routes are delaying the transport of heavy machinery needed for the rescue operations.
- South Korea is deploying a 44-member disaster relief team to assist local authorities as families demand faster search efforts.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Search teams are continuing to look for workers who went missing after floods and landslides hit the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river areas a week ago.
A large number of workers at hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot remain unaccounted for. According to the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN), 894 workers and technical staff from 11 hydropower projects in the two districts are still missing.
Many of the workers are believed to have been inside project tunnels when floodwater, mud and rocks entered the sites.
The 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 project in Rasuwa has reported the largest number of missing workers. IPPAN said 576 workers remain unaccounted for, while 254 have been rescued. Around 300 workers are believed to have been inside the tunnel when the flood hit the project.
The tunnel entrance is now blocked by rocks and debris. Some project equipment was also damaged. Nepal Army personnel, mountain rescuers and Chinese rescue personnel are working to reach the blocked section.
Rescue equipment has been brought from Kathmandu, but damaged roads and access routes have made it difficult to transport heavy machinery to the project site. Teams are currently clearing debris and trying to find a route through which larger equipment can be taken closer to the tunnel.
At the 60 MW Upper Trishuli-3A project, rescuers have reached the tunnel entrance and cleared part of the debris. Water inside the tunnel is being pumped out. Officials are also considering using smaller machines, including Bobcats, to remove debris from inside.
At the 20 MW Langtang Khola project, rescuers have moved about 100 metres into the tunnel. Large rocks have stopped further progress, and workers are removing them to reach a section about 150 metres inside.
Work at the 22 MW Chilime project has also moved slowly. Only about 15 metres near the tunnel entrance has been cleared because heavy machinery cannot be taken further inside.
Chilime project chief executive officer Bhairaja Maharjan said there was much more debris inside the tunnel than the section cleared so far. A body recovered during the search has reportedly not been identified as a project employee.
A blocked tunnel does not by itself show whether workers inside have access to air. Hydropower tunnels generally have ventilation systems, and some parts may still contain air if they have not been completely filled with water.
For example, a 500-metre section of a tunnel five metres wide and five metres high would have a volume of about 12,500 cubic metres. The amount of air available to anyone trapped inside would depend on how much water and debris had entered the tunnel.
If fresh air is unable to enter, oxygen levels would gradually fall while carbon dioxide levels rise. Water entering the tunnel could further reduce the available air space.
Water is also an important concern for anyone who may still be trapped underground. People can survive for a period without food, but access to drinking water is necessary for survival. Water mixed with mud, chemicals or other materials inside a flood-damaged tunnel may not be safe to drink.
Previous underground accidents in other countries show that people can sometimes survive for days after being trapped. In China, 115 workers were rescued after eight days following the Wangjialing mine accident in 2010. Two miners in South Korea survived for more than nine days after being trapped underground in 2022.
In Germany, 11 miners were rescued after 14 days during the Lengede mine disaster in 1963. In India, 41 workers were rescued after 17 days trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in 2023.
Those cases, however, cannot be used to determine the condition of the missing workers in Nepal. Their chances of survival depend on conditions inside each tunnel, including the availability of air and water and the amount of water and debris that entered.
Relatives of missing workers have questioned the pace of the search and the time taken to bring heavy equipment and specialized rescue teams to the affected sites.
At the Upper Trishuli-3B project in Nuwakot, relatives said they had been asking authorities to send excavators since Friday.
Bibek Pandey, a relative of one of the missing workers, said the project needed more workers and machinery for the search. According to him, families had requested 200 to 300 additional workers and four to five excavators.
IPPAN President Mohan Kumar Dangi said the search might have moved faster if technical experts and foreign rescue teams had been brought to the sites earlier.
Former Nepal Electricity Authority Executive Director Kulman Ghising also questioned coordination between government agencies and hydropower companies. He said engineers and technical workers from the affected projects should have been involved from the beginning because they are familiar with the tunnel layouts, access points and equipment at their respective projects.
Nepali mountain rescuers have also offered to join the operation. Nepal National Mountain Guide Rescue Association President Tulsi Gurung said his team has experience in rope rescue, helicopter long-line operations and difficult access work but was waiting for official permission.
The Nepal Engineers’ Association has also questioned whether enough technical and skilled personnel are being used in the search.
South Korea is preparing to send a disaster relief team to Nepal. According to reports, a 44-member team is expected to arrive on Wednesday to assist with the rescue work.
Other hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot have also reported missing workers. The projects in Rasuwa include Rasuwagadhi, Langtang Khola, Chilime, Mailung Khola and Rasuwagadhi–Bhotekoshi. In Nuwakot, the affected projects include Upper Trishuli-3B, Upper Trishuli-3A, Middle Trishuli Ganga, Trishuli and Devighat.
Some workers have already been rescued, while the whereabouts of many others remain unknown. Teams are continuing to remove debris, pump water and identify possible ways into the blocked tunnels.
Relatives of the missing workers are waiting for information as the search continues at the affected hydropower projects.
