How WhatsApp engineers’ network becomes lifeline in Nepal rescue

As rescuers battle mud, rocks and collapsed infrastructure to find missing workers in Nepal’s devastated hydropower valley, a WhatsApp group of more than 500 engineers has emerged as an unlikely command centre for the search.

The group, created by engineers before a wall of water, mud and rock tore through the Trishuli valley on August 26, is now being used to provide rescuers with technical information about buried tunnels, plant layouts and possible access routes.

The authorities believe some of the roughly 900 people reported missing from six hydropower facilities may have survived by taking refuge inside tunnels during the disaster.

The strategy has already produced a breakthrough. Nine days after the flood, two workers were rescued alive on Friday from a tunnel associated with the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project.

Finding the tunnel entrances, however, remains a major challenge. The disaster deposited an estimated 2.2 million tonnes of mud and debris across the valley, burying infrastructure and altering the landscape around the hydropower facilities.

The engineers’ group has become particularly useful in identifying routes into the underground networks.

During rescue operations at the Chilime hydropower plant on Saturday, a government official posted a request on the group for layout drawings of the facility. Within minutes, another member supplied drawings of the powerhouse and information about the plant’s access tunnels.

Reuters reviewed exchanges from the group, which was expanded after the disaster to bring additional specialists into the rescue effort.

The Nepal Independent Power Producers’ Association said at least eight people could still be trapped at Chilime, while a Nepal Electricity Authority official estimated that as many as 46 people could be stranded at the Rasuwagadhi hydropower plant.

Rescue teams are also searching four other hydropower sites across the valley, which has suffered extensive destruction. The disaster wiped out about 10 per cent of Nepal’s electricity generation capacity.

At Rasuwagadhi, rescuers managed to penetrate approximately 250 metres into one tunnel before encountering a blockage. Officials, however, said efforts would continue because some missing workers could potentially be trapped in a chamber with access to food and water.

Amshu Kiran Shahi, a Nepal Electricity Authority board member, said rescuers were preparing to enter the tunnel again in search of survivors.

Former employees of the affected plants have also been consulted through the WhatsApp network because of their knowledge of the underground layouts. A Nepal Electricity Authority manager told Reuters that drawings and other technical information shared through the group had assisted the rescue operation.

The Nepal Army said the task was particularly difficult because the flood had fundamentally changed the condition of the tunnels.

“This is not a normal closure of tunnels,” army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told Reuters, explaining that mud, rocks and soil had accumulated inside while the surrounding terrain and tunnel structures had also been altered.

At Chilime, images from Reuters showed debris packed almost to the roof inside a large tunnel entrance.

At Upper Trishuli 3A, rescuers spent nearly six days clearing their way to the tunnel after its entrance was buried. Before the two survivors were found, teams had attempted to pump oxygen through pipes into possible cavities where trapped workers might still be alive.

Rescue efforts elsewhere have been aided by people who escaped the flooding and possess detailed knowledge of the tunnel networks.

Jan Jiwan Thakur, a civil engineer at the Upper Trishuli 1 plant, said a colleague alerted workers shortly before the flood arrived, allowing him and about 100 others to scramble towards higher ground.

“After two to three minutes when we looked down, everything was gone,” he said, recalling how the flood debris buried the facility’s office area.

Another survivor, Dhan Bahadur Tamang, escaped through a tunnel at the same plant as the flood swept pipes and equipment underground. Familiarity with the tunnel system helped him and others find their way out, although he said he encountered bodies during the escape.

The WhatsApp group has also become a tool for tracing missing workers. Members have circulated names and telephone numbers of those unaccounted for and asked government officials to pass the information to telecommunications authorities in an attempt to determine their last known locations.

For relatives, however, technical breakthroughs offer little comfort until their loved ones are found.

Rajesh Shrestha is still waiting for news of his 30-year-old son, Rajish, an environmental engineer at Upper Trishuli 1.

“I am surviving on the hope that he will return,” Shrestha said, describing how he imagines his son coming home with his bag whenever he looks outside.

The disaster has killed more than 1,200 people, while thousands remain missing. With rescue teams continuing to penetrate the buried hydropower tunnels, engineers using WhatsApp are providing the technical knowledge needed to navigate a subterranean maze that rescuers cannot safely tackle alone.

(Reuters)