Nepal floods: Family begins search for Himachal engineer with Upper Trishuli hydel plant

On the eve of a major disaster, Sukhvinder Rattan, a 30-year-old engineer from Himachal Pradesh’s Una district, was last heard from on August 25. He had promised to return to India by November to celebrate Diwali with his family. The site engineer had been working at the 216-MW Upper Trishuli Hydropower Project in Nepal when the flash floods and subsequent catastrophe struck on August 26.

His elder brother, Varinder Rattan, and cousin Shubham are now in Kathmandu, seeking information and assistance to locate their missing brother. Varinder and Shubham had initially planned to travel to the affected area but were directed to an Army rescue centre where relatives of missing persons have been reporting. The Upper Trishuli Hydropower plant, which supplies electricity to India, was among the numerous power plants affected by the flash floods triggered by a glacier collapse.

Rattan's wife, Saravjit Kaur, stated that he had been working at the Trishuli Hydropower Project for the past three years. They married in 2023 and have a one-and-a-half-year-old son, Mevansh. Rattan had planned to visit India the day before Raksha Bandhan but changed his travel plans due to his mother-in-law's illness. He arrived in India in the first week of August and returned to Nepal on August 14.

Kaur reminded that Rattan had warned her about the potential for landslides and other natural disasters in the Upper Trishuli area. Her husband had been staying in rented accommodation in Rasuwa district. Rattan's father, Hussan Lal Rattan, a retired CISF personnel, shared the information about his son's disappearance with Varinder and Shubham.

The Una district administration has received updates about Rattan from the Nepal Army and is coordinating with the Centre to trace him.