Kathmandu: India’s tunnel rescue team is continuing its operations despite challenging conditions and poor access, India’s Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, said on Sunday.
“Search and Rescue Operations in Chilime Tunnel: Despite challenging conditions of limited and poor access, slush and heavy debris, the India-Nepal joint technical team continue to make progress in the tunnel with hard manual work. The teams also started establishing rope connectivity from Syafrubesi to the tunnel for induction of more men. Meanwhile, construction of a temporary road towards the tunnel is moving forward with about 950 m cleared,” Ambassador Srivastava said on social media platform X.
On Saturday, the team removed heavy debris, water and mud, which in the interior has reached close to the roof of the Chilime tunnel.
The Ambassador said that this would allow heavy machinery to be taken deep into the tunnel and noted that, in parallel, work is also underway to make an access road from nearby Syafrubesi to the tunnel portal
Continuing with its humanitarian assistance to Nepal, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday that India has so far sent around 95 tonnes of relief material on seven aircraft, along with 54 personnel to support rescue and relief efforts following the devastating flash floods in the Himalayan nation.
Addressing a bi-weekly press briefing in New Delhi on Friday, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India would continue to extend assistance based on the requirements communicated by the Nepalese government, with plans to send additional forensic kits, Bailey bridges and other requested materials in the coming days.
“We will continue to provide assistance as per the requirements of the Nepal government. In the coming days, we plan to send more forensic kits, Bailey bridges and other materials that are requested by the Nepal government. Yesterday, we had two Indian aircraft flying to Kathmandu along with 21 tonnes of relief material. Till now, we have supplied around 95 tonnes of relief materials on seven aircraft. In addition to the relief material, we have also sent 54 personnel to support relief and rescue efforts in Nepal. This comprises 30 tunnel rescue experts, 19 forensic experts, and a five-member medical team. Our rescue and forensic teams are deployed on the ground, and they are working closely with the Nepalese authorities,” Jaiswal added.
