Most of the houses are buried in mud and sludge. In some places, only the roofs are visible; elsewhere, there are heaps of rubble.
Amid these ruins, Armed Police Force (APF) officers are searching for anyone still alive and waiting for rescue.
Various teams of the APF have been deployed in the flood-affected areas of Rasuwa and Nuwakot. They enter damaged houses and call out: “Listen, listen. We are rescuers. If you can hear my voice, call out to me. If you cannot speak, knock on a solid object.”
The Bhotekoshi-Trishuli flood on August 26 devastated homes, buildings, and other structures along the riverbanks. APF teams are still searching the debris in case anyone is trapped alive.
But the security force deployed to save lives was itself not spared by the flood.
Thirteen APF personnel went missing – nine, including APF Inspector Ambir Khattri, who were stationed in Timure, and four others working at the Trishuli Hydropower Project security base in Mailung. The body of APF Constable Sajan Kunwar was later found in eastern Nawalparasi.
Despite losing their own colleagues to the flood, APF personnel at the scene continued working to save others.
The flood siren
After the flood began sweeping through Timure, word had already reached Mailung. After personnel including the commander of the Timure BOP (border outpost) were swept away, APF Sub-inspector Ramesh Thapa took charge of the command in the lower area.
As it became clear that Mailung could also suffer extensive damage, Thapa initially began moving local residents to safer locations.
“As soon as we received the information from above, I ran and activated the early warning system. It was located above our compound. People from the Trishuli Hydropower Project also lived there,” he said. “Once the siren was activated, many people were able to flee. We also phoned others and told them to escape.”
According to him, employees of Trishuli-3A were also contacted and warned about the flood.
“I was calling the employees of Trishuli-3A. I had already sent our personnel uphill a little earlier. By then, the flood had arrived. The water also threw me aside,” he said. “The flood was carrying people downstream. I rescued one person and took him to higher ground.”
As the flood grew more intense, they moved farther uphill and reached a safe location.
During the process, four APF personnel were swept away by the flood, he said.
After all the other mobile phones had been swept away, one APF officer’s phone remained. The incident was reported using that phone.
Sub-inspector Thapa was also injured in the incident. He has since come to Kathmandu for treatment.
Search for life beneath rubble
After the flood struck on August 26, various APF teams were immediately mobilized for search and rescue operations.
Their search was not limited to finding the bodies of missing people. They searched every house hoping that someone might still be alive beneath the rubble.
About 60 hours had passed since the disaster. On August 29, the sound of a crying child was heard about 200 meters from Timure in Rasuwa.
After searching through debris piled with rocks and timber, rescuers found and pulled out a six-year-old girl alive.
Similarly, a woman was rescued alive from inside her home 10 days after the flood.
At around 1 p.m. on September 6, an APF team was searching in Betrawati, Bidur-10, Nuwakot.
During the search, they heard a voice coming from inside a four-story house buried under debris.
A joint team of the APF and Nepal Police then broke through the wall and rescued 65-year-old Chandika Shrestha, who was trapped inside.
According to APF field commander Inspector Suman Bishwakarma, the rescue began after they heard someone shouting, “Save me, save me.”
“We heard someone saying, ‘Save me, save me,’” he said. “It sounded as if the voice was coming from different places, like an echo. That’s when we entered the building.”
He said that the woman may have lost consciousness after the flood swept her away the house and may have regained consciousness later.
“We had been coming to this area and searching since the very first day. Perhaps she was unconscious. We had not heard any sound. Today, when we suddenly heard a voice, we immediately rescued her,” he said.
APF central spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General Netra Bahadur Karki said that the force has rescued more than 5,000 people during search and rescue operations.
“Our teams have been working from the beginning. They are continuing to search every building buried or reduced to rubble to see whether lives can still be saved,” he said.
Search inside tunnels
The APF’s trained personnel have been deployed not only in open areas affected by the flood, but also in tunnel rescue operations.
Alongside the Nepal Army and other expert teams, APF personnel trained in disaster management have been conducting searches inside tunnels.
After a prolonged effort, two people were rescued from the Trishuli-3A tunnel on the morning of September 4. The rescued men were Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan.
An 18-member team led by APF Deputy Superintendent of Police Amrit Thapa had been deployed for the search. APF Head Constable Pawan Tamang was among those who entered the tunnel. The body of one person was also found there.
Personnel from the Nepal Army, APF, and other agencies continue to conduct searches in the tunnel area.
According to DIG Karki, APF teams have also been deployed at Trishuli-3A and Trishuli-3B.
“Personnel are added or reduced as needed. There are 18 people deployed at one location and 10 at another,” he said.
From drones to trained dogs
The APF has also been using drones for search and surveillance operations.
Drones are being used particularly to search damaged buildings and houses that have been reduced to rubble.
Teams accompanied by trained dogs have also been deployed to search for bodies.
Although the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli flood caused casualties even among security personnel, the APF has not stopped its search operations in the affected areas.
Hoping that someone may still be calling for help from beneath the rubble, they continue house-to-house searches.
