Engineers coordinating through a 500-member WhatsApp group are providing critical real-time guidance to rescue workers searching for survivors inside the debris-choked tunnels of devastated hydropower plants in Nepal’s Trishuli valley, according to reports by Reuters.
WhatsApp Group Guides Rescue Operations in Trishuli Valley
The messaging group was established by engineers prior to the August 26 flash flood, which was triggered by a glacier collapse, according to Reuters. The deluge deposited 2.2 million tonnes of mud and rock down the valley, wiping out 10 percent of Nepal’s power generation capacity and leaving entrances to underground infrastructure severely buried.
Authorities estimate that approximately 900 people were reported missing across six hydropower plants in the valley, including at least three facilities under construction. Rescue officials hope workers may have survived by fleeing into the tunnel networks.
“Can you send me Chilime layout drawings,” a government official wrote in the group on August 29, as rescue teams searched the buried remains of the 22 MW Chilime hydropower plant near the Chinese border, according to Reuters. Within minutes, a group member provided schematics of the powerhouse and access tunnels.
Challenges Inside Destroyed Hydropower Tunnels
Rescue teams face severe structural hurdles while probing the subterranean networks. “The flood has altered the terrain around the tunnels and changed their structure, while mud, rocks, soil and other debris had accumulated inside,” Nepal army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told Reuters, adding that “this is not a normal closure of tunnels.”
At the Rasuwagadhi hydropower plant further south, rescue workers pushed 250 meters into a tunnel before encountering a block, according to Amshu Kiran Shahi, a board member of the Nepal Electricity Authority. Shahi noted that up to 46 people may be trapped in an internal chamber where food and water supplies could potentially be accessible.
Nepal’s Independent Power Producers’ Association stated on August 31 that at least eight people could be trapped at the Chilime plant. Meanwhile, excavating the entrance to the Upper Trishuli 3A project required nearly six days due to heavy debris accumulation, according to Shahi.
Scale of the Disaster
The August 26 disaster killed more than 1,200 people, with over 4,000 individuals still unaccounted for, according to reporting by Reuters. Emergency responders continue to utilize heavy machinery and helicopters alongside digital coordination from the engineering network to access blocked subterranean sites.
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