Engineers launch campaign over delayed rescue of workers trapped in hydropower tunnels

The Nepal Engineers Association has launched a pressure campaign demanding an immediate and intensified rescue operation for engineers and workers trapped inside hydropower project tunnels following flooding in the Bhotekoshi River.

The association said the prolonged delay in rescuing people who have remained trapped for days has raised serious concerns about the government’s response. It said the state has a constitutional and humanitarian responsibility to prioritise the lives of those stranded inside tunnels and warned that further delays could put more lives at risk.

Under the campaign slogan “Today Them, Tomorrow Us,” engineers have urged the authorities to mobilise all available resources, technical expertise and equipment to accelerate rescue operations across the affected hydropower projects.

Nepal Engineers Association President Subash Chandra Baral expressed serious dissatisfaction with the pace of the government’s response. The association said it had been seeking coordination and offering technical assistance from the outset, but that sufficient cooperation and mobilisation of available private-sector expertise and equipment had not taken place.

The association said rescue efforts were only expanded several days after the disaster, despite hundreds of engineers and workers being reported missing or unaccounted for across multiple hydropower projects. It stressed that the rescue of those trapped underground should be treated as an emergency requiring coordinated, war-footing action.

Over 900 people across 11 hydropower projects remain unaccounted for. The largest number was from the Upper Trishuli-1 project, where 576 people were reported missing, followed by 122 at Upper Trishuli-3 and 93 at Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project. Other affected projects include Langtang Khola, Chilime, Mailung Khola, Trishuli, Devighat and Middle Trishuli Ganga.

Meanwhile, a search operation inside a tunnel at the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project in Rasuwa has been completed, with rescuers finding no people inside, the Nepal Army said.

The tunnel, which is approximately 250 metres long, was searched up to a depth of 225 metres by a rescue team using drones. After finding no one inside, the team withdrew from the tunnel.

The government began deploying rescue teams on Saturday, while Nepali, Indian and Chinese technical personnel have also been involved since Sunday. However, identifying tunnel entrances and reaching the trapped workers has remained a major challenge.

The association said the rescue operation must no longer be delayed and called for the immediate use of heavy equipment, specialised personnel and all other available resources to save those still trapped inside the tunnels.