Around 25 people are believed to be trapped inside the tunnel of the 20-megawatt Langtang Khola Hydropower Project in Rasuwa.
A team comprising the Nepal Army and technical personnel from the Indian Army is working to rescue them.
According to Bijay Mohan Bhattarai, the project’s managing director and secretary of the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN), a team comprising 12 technical personnel from the Nepal and Indian armies is involved in the rescue operation.
“Reconnaissance work was being carried out. From today, we have begun rescue work with the necessary equipment,” he said.
According to him, the team had been conducting reconnaissance at the site for the past few days. Excavation work inside the tunnel began on Monday with the required equipment.
The operation is expected to take until Tuesday as rescuers will need to dig around 150 meters to reach the area where people are believed to be trapped.
“When there was a normal flood, the siren would go off. But this time, it was a disaster of catastrophic proportions – the flood even swept away the siren,” he said.
Earlier, 18 people working at the project were rescued, while one person managed to walk out on their own.
Despite some delay in the rescue operation, there is still hope that those trapped inside the tunnel are alive, Bhattarai said.
“We wish we could work quickly. Even though there has been a delay, may they remain alive – this is our wish right now,” he said.
