KATHMANDU — Specialised personnel from India's tunnel rescue team, working in coordination with the Nepalese Army, have achieved significant operational breakthroughs at the flood-hit Chilime Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district.

Rescuers succeeded in digging deeper into the main shaft of the Chilime tunnel complex, successfully draining trapped floodwaters that had severely hindered ongoing rescue attempts. Simultaneously, engineering crews initiated the construction of a temporary access track into the tunnel interior to allow heavy earth-moving machinery to reach critical underground zones.


Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava confirmed the progress on Saturday via a statement on X, noting that technical personnel and military units were pressing forward despite treacherous conditions. Medical professionals attached to the Indian contingent also conducted humanitarian health outreach camps for local residents displaced or affected by the surrounding devastation.

The technical intervention comes as Nepal reels from the aftermath of catastrophic flash floods triggered by an ice and rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26. Swollen by mountain run-off, the Bhotekoshi River raged through northern and central regions, sweeping away critical infrastructure, roads, and bridges. Official disaster response figures indicate the overall death toll across affected districts has risen to 1,344, with nearly 4,900 individuals still unaccounted for.

The hydropower sector has taken a brunt of the catastrophe. Authorities estimate at least 900 energy project personnel remain missing across a dozen installations in northern Nepal, with roughly 500 workers believed to be trapped inside inundated or collapsed tunnel networks. Expert disaster response teams from both India and China have been deployed alongside Nepalese security forces to locate missing workers, clear debris, and restore access to damaged energy facilities.

Besides tunnel operations in Chilime and Langtang, Indian assistance to the Himalayan nation includes high-altitude airlifts, humanitarian relief operations, forensic support protocols, and the successful evacuation of over 150 foreign nationals caught in isolated flood zones. Search and rescue operations continue in full force as emergency personnel race against time.