KATHMANDU: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha has said that rescue teams are trying to reach the tunnel by this evening to rescue the workers, employees and locals trapped in the tunnel of various hydropower projects due to the Rasuwa floods.

Minister Shrestha, while meeting with the families of those trapped in the tunnel at the Ministry on Saturday, said, “There is a possibility of finding the tunnel by this evening.” Minister Shrestha informed that a dedicated helicopter has been mobilized since Friday to rescue those trapped in the tunnel.

Shrestha said that search and rescue work is going on even at night and to open the source of the tunnel. “We have not stopped the work even at night. If we stop at night, hope will die. We are doing the part of half shift or rotation or continuity to say that whatever it is, we can find it,” he said.

Minister Shrestha said that high-level expert officials from the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Ministry have been mobilized for the search and rescue operation. “Our Tactical Office in Nuwakot is actively working. A senior level management team is in Nuwakot. Another senior level team is in Rasuwa,” he said.

Minister Shrestha said the ministry was committed to providing necessary means and coordination for rescue operations.

Minister Shrestha said that the government’s first priority is to save the lives of the people trapped in the tunnel and is trying to provide oxygen through some means. “We are trying to get oxygen inside the tunnel through some means before the rescue. After the rescue, we can also keep him in the hospital. He has to be alive first. For this, we are trying to get oxygen through some pipe,” he said.

Minister Shrestha also pledged to provide regular official information to the victims’ families.

During the meeting with Energy Minister Shrestha, the victim’s family members had put forth three demands.

The victim’s family demanded that the information should be given as soon as possible whether the condition is alive or dead inside the tunnel. Similarly, arrangements should be made for survival inside the tunnel and at least oxygen should be arranged.

He also said that whatever equipment is needed for the rescue should be arranged.

As many as 12 hydropower projects have been damaged by the floods in Rasuwa and more than 500 workers, employees and locals have been trapped inside the tunnels of various hydropower projects.