Kathmandu, Sept. 2 -- Nepali Army helicopters are conducting continuous rescue operations in flood-hit areas of Rasuwa and Nuwakot, where extensive damage to roads has left choppers as the only means of evacuation for many stranded people.
The rescued are being brought to Dhunche, where long queues have formed for helicopter rides to Kathmandu. An NDTV ground report from the Dhunche Army helipad found locals and rescued people waiting for as long as 24 to 48 hours for their turn.
Those seeking evacuation are registered at the Army camp, with names called out in sequence when seats become available. The Army is prioritising people stranded in higher reaches before evacuating those already brought to Dhunche.
Search and rescue operations are also underway at 11 flood-affected hydropower projects along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridors in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. According to the Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal, 897 people working at these projects remain out of contact. At the request of the Nepali government, tunnel technicians from India and China have arrived in Nepal to assist in efforts to rescue people believed to be trapped inside hydropower tunnels.
The massive flash floods that struck northern and central Nepal on August 26 devastated homes, roads, bridges and hydropower projects. The floods, believed to have been triggered by a collapse or avalanche of ice and rock near the Nepal-Tibet border, caused widespread destruction as the Bhotekoshi River carried floodwaters downstream.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.