A WhatsApp group of more than 500 engineers is providing technical drawings, advice and information to rescue workers searching the tunnel networks of hydropower plants devastated by a flash flood in Nepal’s Trishuli valley. The messaging group was set up by engineers before a wall of water, mud and rock crashed down the valley on August 26, and has since become a valuable coordination tool alongside helicopters and heavy machinery in the effort to find survivors.
The flood, caused by a glacier collapse, killed more than 1,200 people, with more than 4,000 still reported missing, including workers who may be trapped inside tunnels at six hydropower plants, at least three of which were under construction. Rescue teams have faced significant difficulty simply locating tunnel entrances after the flood deposited an estimated 2.2 million tonnes of mud and debris down the valley, altering the terrain and changing the structure of the tunnel systems.
The WhatsApp group, expanded to include additional experts in support of the rescue effort, has functioned as a real time information exchange between officials on the ground and engineers familiar with the plants’ layouts. In one exchange reviewed by Reuters, a government official requested layout drawings for the Chilime hydropower plant, and within minutes a group member responded with drawings of the facility’s powerhouse along with details of its access tunnels. A manager at the Nepal Electricity Authority said rescue workers had also used the group to ask former plant employees for advice about tunnel networks, describing the shared drawings as useful to search operations.
At the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project, rescue workers took almost six days to reach a buried tunnel entrance, and have since attempted to supply oxygen through pipes into cavities in case anyone remained trapped inside. Beyond technical drawings, members of the group have also shared names and mobile phone numbers of missing workers, asking government officials to relay the information to telecom authorities in an effort to determine whether any of the missing may still be reachable. Nepal’s army has described the scale of debris and structural change inside the tunnels as unlike any routine closure, underscoring the difficulty rescue teams continue to face more than a week after the disaster struck.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
