Kathmandu, Sept 20: As many as 837 people linked to hydropower projects remain unaccounted for after the August 26 flood in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, according to a report on damage to the energy sector.
The flood struck projects with a combined capacity of 669 megawatts. Upper Trishuli-1, a 216 MW plant under construction in Rasuwa, recorded the highest number of missing people among the sites listed. The report puts that figure at 471. It says 936 people were found safe or rescued, and 11 bodies were recovered there.
At the operating 111-MW Rasuwagadhi plant, 93 people were reported missing, and 7 were found safe or rescued. The report lists three people as unaccounted for at the 120 MW Rasuwagadhi–Bhotekoshi project, which is under construction, and says five were found safe or rescued.
The 20 MW Langtang Khola project reported 39 people missing and 19 rescued. One person from the site office of the 22 MW Chilime plant remains unaccounted for. The report says 71 personnel were at Chilime at the time.
Seven people were reported missing from the 5 MW Mailung Khola project. The total number working there when the flood struck has yet to be established.
Across affected hydropower sites in Rasuwa, the report places the number of unaccounted-for people at 614. Search teams face the task of establishing what happened to workers across sites damaged by the flood.
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