KATHMANDU: Hydropower companies have been included in search and rescue operations for workers trapped in tunnels and missing following devastating floods in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
The decision follows complaints from private sector representatives that the government had previously barred them from deploying their technical personnel and equipment. Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN) General Secretary TM Acharya met Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha on Tuesday to discuss private sector involvement.
Floods on Bhadra 10 damaged 12 hydropower projects across Rasuwa and Nuwakot, leaving 894 employees and workers unaccounted for. At the 216 MW Upper Trishuli-1 Hydroelectric Project in Rasuwa, constructed by South Korean firm NWEDC, 573 workers remain missing.
Nepali Army personnel, Indian and Chinese technical teams, and technicians from the affected companies are now collaborating in search operations. During Tuesday’s meeting, IPPAN-affiliated organisations also handed over Rs 130 million and one rupee in relief assistance for flood victims.
