Why finding missing workers from Nepal’s hydropower tunnels is proving to be difficult

NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescue crews in Nepal are racing against time to find hundreds of missing workers who are feared trapped inside hydropower tunnels damaged by flooding that has killed more than 1,000 people across Nepal and China.

At least 900 workers are missing from hydropower projects, with about 500 believed to be inside tunnels, according to officials and industry representatives.

Access to the tunnels has been hampered by flooding, debris and damaged infrastructure, making it difficult for rescue teams to reach workers.

Rescuers are scouring tunnels filled with debris

Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, a Nepal Army spokesperson, said teams assisted by foreign experts were working at several hydropower projects. Army footage showed rescuers entering dark, debris-filled tunnels, wading through mud and climbing over rocks as they searched for the missing.

Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal, said floods damaged at least 12 hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, with a combined capacity of 670 MW. Four were under construction, seven operational and one in testing phase, he said.

Hydropower projects undergo risk assessments and other studies before construction, but called the Aug. 26 flooding “something unimaginable,” Dangi said.

Flood damage is hampering access to tunnels

The biggest challenge for rescuers is reaching them.

Many of Nepal’s hydropower projects are in remote, mountainous areas where steep terrain and narrow roads can make access difficult. Flooding has worsened conditions, damaging roads and limiting routes to some sites.

Rescuers also are facing tunnels that are blocked or damaged.

The floods swept mud, huge rocks and debris into underground passages, collapsing sections and trapping workers. Even where tunnel entrances are accessible, crews must clear large amounts of debris before reaching deeper sections.

Debris is obscuring the locations of workers

Finding the missing workers also has proved difficult.

Filmmaker and drone pilot Manish Maharjan, who has been volunteering with the Nepalese army, said some tunnels were “filled with mud like toothpaste in a tube.” At one hydropower project, he used a drone to search to the end of a tunnel but found no sign of life.

Some workers called for help during early hours after floods, while others who escaped said colleagues remained underground. It was not clear whether rescuers had since made contact with those workers or whether they were still alive.

Experts say the first 72 hours after a disaster can be critical. People trapped underground may survive without food for some time, but limited drinking water and breathable air can quickly become life-threatening.

Nepal’s rescue capacity is being tested

Anil Pokhrel, a disaster risk reduction expert and former head of Nepal’s disaster authority, said the flooding exposed weaknesses in Nepal’s rescue capacity. He said rescuers lost valuable time locating the tunnel’s exact entry point and coordinates and lacked heavy equipment and adequately trained personnel.

“Harsh and remote locations with inclement weather worsened the situation. Also, we didn’t have adequately trained human resources to undertake such operations,” he said.

Nepal has more than a century of experience building tunnels but remains poorly prepared for complex tunnel rescues, Pokhrel said.

“We are focused on tunnel design and construction but are not adequately prepared for rescue operations,” he said.

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Kafle reported from Kathmandu, Nepal.