19 August, Kathmandu. Even on the tenth day of the devastating floods in Bhotekoshi, the search for uncontacted employees and workers in Rasuwa and Nuwakot hydropower projects has become a challenge.

The condition of hundreds of employees and workers is still unknown after the flood damaged 12 hydropower projects. The search for those trapped in tunnels, underground power plants, offices and residential areas is ongoing.

During the search, on the tenth day (after 216 hours), two employees of the Nepal Electricity Authority were rescued alive from the tunnel of Upper Trishuli-3 'A' hydropower project in Nuwakot.

Sanjay Shah, mechanical foreman of Nepal Electricity Authority and Kabir Maharjan, mechanical supervisor, were rescued at around 8:55 am on Friday morning. The health condition of both the rescued people is normal and they are being treated in the ICU of Birendra Hospital in Kathmandu.

Although they were rescued alive, a dead body was found in the tunnel. According to Awas Ojha, head of the project, the security personnel took out a body from the tunnel.

Trishuli-3 'A' stone breaking tunnel cleaning work

According to the Nepali Army, a joint rescue team of 93 people has been mobilized for search and rescue in Trishuli-3 'A'. Today, a team of the Nepali Army, including Electrical Supervisor Sanjog KC of Nepal Electricity Authority, has entered the power house to search for more people.

The team, using five excavators, compressors and breakers, entered the outlet of the tunnel by removing the mud, stones and sand, and entered within about 30 meters.

After a large stone was found inside the tunnel, blasting is being done to open the way and clean the tunnel. Even earlier, the army team made a way to enter the tunnel by removing water, mud and stones.

Although the rescue of two workers alive has given new hope to the efforts of the rescue team, the situation inside the tunnel is still dangerous. Due to the mud, stones and sand brought by the flood, it is becoming difficult to reach the machine and the rescue team in some parts of the tunnel. In Trishuli 3 'A', 42 people are without contact, 2 people have been rescued alive and 1 person's body has been found. Now 39 people are without contact.

The challenge is to deliver a big machine to Trishuli-3 'B'

In the under-construction Upper Trishuli-3 'B' project, the main challenge is the equipment and road management to bring the rescue team to the incident site. A joint team including 89 Nepali Army personnel, three non-military personnel and the project's managing director has identified the project's office and staff accommodation area. But since the road leading to that structure has been destroyed by the flood, the work of digging the road with an excavator and removing the soil and stones is going on.

According to the deputy director of the project, Leela Aryal, three excavators are currently digging continuously. But there is a situation where small excavators cannot work at the expected speed.

The hill is being cut to bring the big excavator to the scene. If that is not possible, then the option of dividing the big excavator into small parts and bringing them to the scene and reconnecting them again is being discussed.

"The results of the work can be seen only if the big excavator can be delivered as it is," says the project. Earlier too, an attempt was made to construct a rescue and access road by bringing an excavator to Trishuli-3 'B' through a helicopter. 191 people are without contact in Trishuli-3 'B'. Among them are 141 people from Fewa Construction, 21 people from Trishuli Hydropower Company, 7 employees' families, 12 people from Cheska Engineering (consultant), 1 security guard and 3 students who went for internship from Kathmandu University. 23 people working in the tunnel were able to get out safely without getting too much mud and mud inside the tunnel.

Two dead bodies found in Langtang, search continues inside the tunnel

In Rasuwa's Langtang River Hydropower Project, two dead bodies have been found inside the tunnel. According to the Nepali Army, a joint search and rescue team of 25 people has entered the tunnel for about 200 meters and is searching by making small holes in two places. Preparations are being made to enter the next segment as well.

According to project manager Vijayaman Bhattarai, two dead bodies were found inside the tunnel. The rescue team is using various cameras and equipment to get information about more people or their condition inside the tunnel.

According to Bhattarai, the nature of the damage caused by the flood is very different and terrible from normal floods. He says that the search has become very risky due to the structure inside the tunnel, the flow of water and the impact of rocks and soil.

Langtang project officials have said that this incident should be taken as a big lesson for future hydropower projects and disaster management.

According to the project officer, this flood has shown that even some underground structures are not safe. Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider the design, risk assessment and emergency rescue system of hydropower projects in the future.

He said that the risk of glaciers and glaciers should also be addressed in the long term. He suggested that emphasis should be placed on risk reduction preparations, watershed management and international coordination.

Search continues in Upper Trishuli-1 as well

The search is also on for the Upper Trishuli-1 project with a capacity of 216 MW. According to the Nepali Army, a team including three engineers of the project found the closed part of the tunnel after reaching about 200 meters using a rubber boat from the access tunnel. A dead body was also found from there. In Audit Tunnel-3, a search has been made by reaching about 1.8 km.

Earlier, the search had become difficult due to thick swamps in both the tunnel head and tail areas of the project. In some parts of the tunnel, the swamp was frozen up to three to four meters.

For rescue, Nepali Army, Armed Police, Korean, Sherpa, Drone Team and others have taken special cameras and trained dogs to continue the search operation. According to the promoter Nepal Water and Energy Development Company (NWDC), 557 workers and employees working in the project are still without contact.

Before the flood, 1,433 people were employed. The rest of them were rescued.

Among the missing employees and workers are 15 people from NWEDC, 7 people from consultant Z Consult, 56 people from main contractor Doosan, 385 people from civil contractor Power China and 94 people from electromechanical contractor Andries Hydro.

A joint team also operated in Chilime

A joint team of Nepali and foreign experts is continuing search and rescue in the 20 MW Chilime hydropower project.

Earlier, the team had entered about 100 meters inside the tunnel and started searching. As some parts of the tunnel were found in a completely abandoned state, the work of getting inside became a challenge. According to the company, the water level has increased up to 10 meters due to accumulation of sand, mud and silt in the river.

6 people are without contact from Chilime which is in operation. It is assumed that they are trapped in an underground power plant. The company said that no one could be rescued due to difficulties. 71 people in the site office managed to escape and save their lives.

Big election in Rasuwagadhi hydropower project

Similarly, the search is also ongoing in the Rasuwagadhi hydropower project with a capacity of 111 megawatts. When questions were being raised about the condition of the employees of the project's underground power plant, the army searched inside the tunnel. According to the project, 93 people are without contact.

Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Company, the promoter of the project, said that due to the increase in the water level in the river, there is no safe landing place for helicopters near the mouth of the tunnel that enters the underground power plant.

Preparations are being made to intensify the search by mobilizing a group of mountaineer Sherpas. It is raining daily and there is a problem because the river itself is rising up to 10 meters of water and the erosion of the land is not stopped. It is estimated that 3 to 14 people entered the underground power plant among those without contact.

In the beginning, expert teams from the Allies were mobilized for search and rescue. But in the latest phase, Nepali Army and Armed Police teams are mainly deployed in various projects, according to the officials of the project.

The hope raised by the rescue of two survivors

When the Bhotekoshi flood arrived on the 10th day, some tunnels could not even be entered. Sometimes the tunnel is covered with mud and stones, sometimes there is no access road. In some projects, bodies have started to be found, while in some places, the condition of the missing persons has not yet been ascertained.

But the rescue of Sanjay Shah and Kabir Maharjan alive after 216 hours from Trishuli-3 'A' has given hope to the families of other people trapped inside the tunnel.

According to the projects, work is being done with the aim of making the efforts of removing stones and lead from the tunnel in Trishuli-3 'A', trying to deliver heavy equipment to Trishuli-3 'B', searching through cameras and technical equipment in Langtang and Chilime tunnels and trying to enter Upper Trishuli-1 through an alternative tunnel.

Dhami is a correspondent of the Business Bureau of Online Khabar.