{{TAG_OPEN_p_23}Kathmandu. Arjun Neupane, a social officer working at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, who saved his life from the devastating flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on August 26, has shared his harrowing experience of that day. He said that the speed of the flood and the destruction were so terrible that most of the people living there had given up hope of survival.

TAG_OPEN_p_22 According to Neupane, who has been working at the project for the past five years, the disaster struck about four minutes after the siren sounded as a warning of floods. He said that when preparations were being made to take the vehicles and motorcycles to a safe place, a huge smoke suddenly fell from above.

‘I was going down for about five seconds when I heard a loud noise. When I looked back, I saw a huge smoke coming from above. After seeing that scene, we started climbing up to save our lives,” he said in a statement shared on social media.

According to him, many lives were saved when the first big wave did not come towards the area where they were and turned towards Mailung. The second wave that came after that reached the wall on the other side. He said that although some friends were hit by the wave, most of them managed to reach a safe place.TAG_OPEN_p_20

He mentioned that after the floods, there was a concern about the condition of the co-workers inside the camp. It was suspected that many employees were trapped inside the camp as it was only 2-3 minutes to reach the safe place from the time the siren sounded.TAG_OPEN_p_19

After reaching a safe place, Neupane had also appealed through Facebook to ‘save the valley, Betrawati, Battar and Trishuli if you can’. He said that the message was written on the basis of the assumption that there could be a big risk to the lower coastal areas after seeing the flood scene.

He reached Grang in the evening through the jungle and through the forest and said that he has since played an active role in informing the relatives about the condition of the missing and trapped employees. In the days following the floods, he coordinated with the security agencies, local administration and company management to assist in search, rescue and relief operations.TAG_OPEN_p_15

According to Neupane, out of about 80 employees working in the company where he works, 44 are still out of contact. He said that more official details will be made public.TAG_OPEN_p_14

He said that the current need is humanitarian aid rather than publicity and all sides should be active in rescue, relief, food, health services and management of essential materials. He also expressed gratitude to the security personnel, locals, volunteers, people’s representatives and well-wishers who helped in the time of disaster.

} “Let’s give priority to humanity and life-saving work first,” Neupane appealed.