Kathmandu [Nepal], September 16 : Mortal remains of five people have been extricated despite several days of challenging hard work by Indian and Nepali teams for rescue operations in Chilime Tunnel in the wake of the devastating Bhotekoshi floods on August 26, the Indian Ambassador to Nepal said on Wednesday.
Sharing the details in a post on X, the Ambassador said, “Chilime Tunnel Rescue update: After several days of challenging hard work in clearing the slush and mud from the Tunnel, the Indian and Nepali teams were able to reach the power house this morning.”
He informed, “Unfortunately they were not able to find any survivors. Mortal remains of 5 persons were extricated.”
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Earlier on Wednesday, Nepali MP and hydromechanical engineer Sagar Dhakal, who has been involved in the rescue operation for the past 18 days, said the teams were working through the night and were hopeful of making further progress on Tuesday, provided they did not encounter another major obstruction.
“With the machines, we have raised roughly 100 metres plus, and then with the people, we have reached 150 metres plus in the tunnel. The tunnel itself is roughly 220 metres, so we are still yet to reach the 50 metres plus,” Dhakal told ANI in an exclusive interview near the tunnel site.
The Chilime tunnel presents a different set of challenges from another tunnel, where Dhakal had earlier worked. Unlike that site, the Chilime tunnel has a negative slope of around 6.5 per cent over the first 100 metres, meaning water and debris do not move out easily. The tunnel is also located next to a large river, with limited space for helicopters to land. The rescuers therefore first had to construct a road to the tunnel face and a roadway across the river, creating escape routes for workers in case of another flood.
Nepal has formed a seven-member expert committee to determine the origin, cause and sequence of events behind the Tibet-Nepal floods, which has a deadline of two months to submit its report.
Nepal’s Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation on Wednesday formed the committee under the coordination of Devesh Belbase, an expert on water policy and governance, to investigate the issue.