Chilime tunnel rescue: India-Nepal team battles slush, heavy debris

The India-Nepal joint technical team is making progress in the Chilime tunnel search and rescue operations despite challenging conditions, employing manual labour and establishing rope connectivity to bring in more personnel amid devastating floods.

Joint Rescue Efforts in Chilime Tunnel

The Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, on Sunday said that the India-Nepal joint technical team continued to make progress in search and rescue operations inside the Chilime tunnel despite challenging conditions, including limited and poor access, slush and heavy debris.

In a post on X, Srivastava said the teams were carrying out hard manual work inside the tunnel and had also begun establishing rope connectivity between Syafrubesi and the tunnel to facilitate the induction of more personnel. Search and Rescue Operations in Chilime Tunnel: Despite challenging conditions of limited & poor access, slush and heavy debris, 🇮🇳 &🇳🇵joint technical team continue to make progress in the tunnel with hard manual work. The teams also started establishing rope connectivity from… pic.twitter.com/ke7y0od7gg — Naveen Srivastava, Ambassador of India in Nepal (@navsri6619) September 6, 2026

The Indian Ambassador to Nepal said, "Search and Rescue Operations in Chilime Tunnel: Despite challenging conditions of limited & poor access, slush and heavy debris, the India & Nepal joint technical team continue to make progress in the tunnel with hard manual work."

He further said the teams had started establishing rope connectivity from Syafrubesi to the tunnel for the induction of more men. Srivastava said, "Meanwhile, construction of a temporary road towards the tunnel is moving forward with about 950 m of clearance."

Logistical and Expert Support

Earlier on Saturday, the joint Indian-Nepali rescue team continued efforts to clear debris, water and mud from the Chilime tunnel in Nepal's flood-affected Rasuwa district, with an approach path for heavy machinery steadily taking shape, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The MEA said the joint technical team from India continued to address challenges related to terrain and access during the rescue efforts at Chilime. A 3-tonne excavator was moved in parts to Syabrubesi, where it will be assembled and moved forward to the Chilime tunnel once the makeshift path is fully ready.

Meanwhile, manual removal of slush and debris from the tunnel continued. Australian tunnel expert Arnold Dix also visited the site and interacted with the team.

On the other front of relief operations, the MEA said on Saturday that a reefer truck sent from India was deployed in Nuwakot to support the preservation and management of mortal remains. The Indian forensic team, working through two laboratories in Kathmandu, also helped accelerate the extraction of DNA samples, along with their analysis and finalisation of profiles, the MEA said on Saturday.

Broader Flood Impact and Response

The development comes as Foreign media journalists seeking to collect news from flood-affected areas along Nepal's Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers will now be required to obtain a Press Accreditation and Journalist Identity Card from Nepal's Department of Information and Broadcasting (DoIB), according to an official notice issued by the Government of Nepal.

This also comes as Nepali authorities have issued an alert along the river basins of the Budhigandaki River following floods in the mountainous region of Gorkha. The alert was prompted by a flood in the Therang River, which flows through Chumanubri Rural Municipality-4 and 2 in the mountainous region of Gorkha district.

According to officials, the flood earlier this morning swept away four houses and a suspension bridge. The destruction of the bridge is expected to cause difficulties for tourists trekking in the Manaslu region.

Destructive floods and widespread landslides sweeping across the Himalayan nation have claimed 1,341 lives, according to the latest figures released by the Nepal Police. Subsequently, the death toll was revised to 1,331 as search and rescue operations continued on Saturday, alongside the safe rescue of a Chinese national from an audit tunnel of the Upper Trishuli 1 Hydropower Project and a 64-year-old woman from Betrawati in Nuwakot. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)