KATHMANDU – Nepali rescuers yesterday searched for survivors feared trapped inside hydropower tunnels a week after devastating floods, but hopes were fading as teams hit dead ends and no one was confirmed alive.
The government had initially said it believed that more than 100 workers could be alive inside multiple tunnels.
“The search and rescue operation is still underway, and foreign teams are also supporting it at the hydropower tunnels,” said Shanti Mahat, spokeswoman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).
“They are continuing to work despite difficulties. There is a heavy volume of mud and debris and sludge.”
Those feared trapped are among 639 hydropower workers missing since a wall of mud and debris swept down on August 26, according to NDRRMA figures.
“In some cases it has been difficult to find the entry points and, even when they have been found, the rescuers have found the tunnels blocked inside,” Mahat told AFP. “But efforts continue.” Rescuers pulled at least three bodies out of two tunnels on Monday, and entered several hundred metres (feet) into some tunnels, but were stopped by mud.
“We have access to all the tunnels, but it’s problematic to get inside, as there are rocks and sludge,” Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha told reporters on Tuesday.
The Nepal Electricity Authority said 11 hydropower stations and one solar power station, with a combined capacity of 431.1 megawatts, had stopped operating, about 10 percent of the country’s installed electricity generation capacity.
Another 15 power projects under construction, with a planned capacity of 470 megawatts, were damaged.
– Nampa/AFP
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