Nepal floods leave 934 hydropower workers out of contact

Kathmandu reported that 934 people linked to 11 hydropower projects in Nepal's Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts are currently unreachable, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN). The devastating floods, caused by a sudden rise in the Bhote Koshi River on August 26, left 730 people from six projects in Rasuwa and 204 from five projects in Nuwakot out of contact.

The Upper Trishuli-1 project in Rasuwa, under construction with South Korean, IFC and local investors, saw the highest number of missing workers at 576. Another 158 people from the 37-MW Upper Trishuli-3B project in Nuwakot remained unreachable. The 111-MW Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project reported 93 missing, with the rest spread across eight other projects, some under construction and others already operational.

The floods affected 13 projects with a combined capacity of 675.6 MW, according to IPPAN. As of Saturday, 626 bodies had been recovered, leaving 2,426 people still missing or unreachable, as reported by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.