Kathmandu, September 8
Search efforts for people missing after the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli floods have intensified at the 37 MW Upper Trishuli-3 B Hydropower Project following the arrival of three large excavators and a backhoe loader.
Of the 191 people working at the project who went missing in the flood on August 26, 13 employees of construction company Fewa Construction have since been accounted for, leaving 178 people still missing. Efforts to locate them continued on Monday.
According to the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN), small excavators had previously been used to excavate the project’s residential and office areas. However, the search could not make the expected progress because larger heavy machinery could not be transported to the site.
After several days of effort to clear the project’s audit and main tunnels, it became possible to transport three large excavators to the flood-affected area containing the project’s office and residential facilities. Two of the excavators had previously been used in search and rescue operations at the Upper Trishuli-3 A project, while the third was arranged by the project developer.
Search teams are now using the large excavators and backhoe loader to remove mud, large rocks and piles of earth deposited by the flood and excavate the buried areas. The developer, Trishuli Hydropower Company, said it expects to determine the actual condition of the buried office and residential areas by Tuesday.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah also said on social media that search operations were continuing at the project site. According to him, efforts to locate the missing people began on August 26. A Chinese team conducted a reconnaissance of the project site on August 29, but search equipment could not be transported there because of the muddy terrain.
Prime Minister Shah said project employees and a team from the Nepal Army are currently continuing the search. The team entered 1.7 kilometres into the audit tunnel from its entrance after clearing mud and debris. During the operation, they found a vehicle inside the tunnel.
Six residential buildings and one office building at the project have been buried by the flood. Prime Minister Shah said excavation has already reached a depth of up to 15 metres in an effort to locate the buried structures.
Efforts are continuing to transport additional equipment to the project site. The search has been challenging due to the mud, large rocks and earth deposited by the flood, but authorities expect the arrival of heavy machinery to provide more information about the buried structures and the people who remain missing.
