In Nepal, a “race against time” is underway as rescuers attempt to open flooded tunnels of hydroelectric plants where hundreds of people are believed to be trapped. “Our absolute priority is to open the tunnels”, Nepalese army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said on Monday, August 31.
Last week, unprecedented torrential rains killed 900 people, with nearly 5,000 others reported missing. Nepalese rescue teams, assisted by Chinese and Indian experts, intensified their search on Monday, trying to reach hundreds of people who may still be alive in the hydroelectric plant tunnels.
According to the national disaster management agency, at least 933 workers are still missing in about six hydroelectric plant tunnels in the two hardest-hit districts of the country — Rasuwa and Nuwakot — which border China.
Search and rescue operations are complicated by adverse weather conditions, mud, and the destruction of critical infrastructure, including roads and bridges. Photos and videos shared by rescuers show excavators under floodlights in the dark clearing debris of mud and rocks. Soldiers with flashlights work in a large dug pit, trying to find an entrance to the tunnel.
Challenges during the rescue operation
Of the 11 hydroelectric facilities affected by the floods, each presents a separate challenge for rescuers trying to find the safest way inside, CNN reported. Some power plants have internal tunnels several kilometers long, so trapped workers may be far from the entrance.
The search is also complicated by uncertainty over how many people were in the deep tunnels when they flooded and how many may have survived. Although supplies left in the tunnels could theoretically last workers several weeks, there are a number of other hazards. Primarily, the lack of air could lead to deaths. Turbine halls may have been flooded, creating a risk of drowning. Additionally, drilling by rescuers could cause a water breakthrough and pose a danger to the search teams themselves.
Hydropower boom and international assistance
Since the beginning of the century, Nepal has seen a significant increase in the number of hydropower projects. The country seeks to harness its water resources in the Himalayas to overcome chronic electricity shortages and expand exports to its southern neighbor, India. Hydropower projects in the Nepalese mountains require tunneling to transport water through the complex terrain. This allows the use of the significant elevation difference between Himalayan rivers and power plants to generate electricity.
Although Nepal has stated that it generally does not need foreign assistance for search and rescue operations, the country is utilizing the expertise of its large neighbors — India and China — in conducting tunnel rescue operations. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing has been continuously providing Nepal with meteorological and hydrological data and will continue to “firmly support” the country’s disaster relief efforts as well as protect the common interests of the two states.
Some experts believe the scale of the disaster and its proximity to the border between Nepal and China should prompt authorities to be more thorough in designing, locating, and scaling future hydropower projects in the region.
Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah called the floods a “unprecedented and devastating natural disaster” and noted that it is currently difficult to fully assess the extent of the damage caused.
Source: Libération
