Rescued worker ready to help rebuild Nepal

• BY ANUP Ojha / AFP, KIRTIPUR, Nepal

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Rescued alive 10 days after catastrophic floods trapped him in a tunnel, Nepalese hydropower worker Kabir Maharjan is determined to help rebuild his country despite his own harrowing ordeal.

Traditional music and tearful relatives welcomed the 45-year-old when he returned home on Friday after spending weeks recovering at a hospital in Kathmandu.

“Life is precious. Hundreds of people have died but I survived,” the father of two said in an interview, his voice choked with emotion. “Perhaps I still have work to do for my society, for the country, and my home and family.”

Soldiers disembark a helicopter carrying Kabir Maharjan, a worker who was trapped inside a tunnel of the Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project, as they arrive at Chhauni Army Hospital in Kathmandu on Sept. 4

Photo: AFP

The Aug. 26 flood, triggered by a glacial mountain collapse near the China-Nepal border, killed at least 1,400 people, the majority in Nepal.

More than 5,000 people remain missing in Nepal after the tsunami-like waves swept away roads, bridges and settlements in the mountainous northern regions, and battered crucial hydropower projects.

Maharjan, who was among hundreds of workers employed at projects hit by the floods, was eventually airlifted from the worst-hit Rasuwa region.

His miraculous rescue on Sept. 4, alongside fellow worker Sanjay Sah, offered a rare moment of hope during the disaster.

As Nepal shifts from emergency response to reconstruction, he said he hopes to return to his profession.

“There is risk in everything, but still we have to win over it,” he said.

In Nepal, more than 800 hydropower project workers remain unaccounted for, the energy minister told parliament last week.

Rescue teams continue to comb through the ruins, and 47 bodies have been recovered from flood-hit project sites.

Maharjan said he survived by reaching an upper floor of the tunnel site and drinking water while waiting for help.

“Whenever I was awake, I would try to find a way out,” he said. Days later, he saw what appeared to be a light and heard voices. “I thought I imagined it. But I called out, and they answered.”

For Maharjan, the country’s long road to recovery mirrors his own — he is still recovering from wounds on his hand and leg.

He said the rebuilding efforts could provide spiritual sustenance.

“While we are alive we must be patient and do our work,” he said. “Work is our karma.”

The flooding dealt a major blow to Nepal’s hydropower generation system, which is central to the country’s development ambitions and export earnings.

The government estimates overall reconstruction could cost US$4.8 billion, with thousands of people displaced and key infrastructure damaged.

The disaster has renewed scrutiny of how roads, hydropower plants and trade corridors are built in Nepal’s challenging mountain terrain.

Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah told the UN on Thursday that the flooding was “a warning to the world” about the growing dangers posed by climate change, urging greater international support to help Nepal adapt and rebuild.

Aid groups have warned that the humanitarian crisis is far from over.

“The floodwaters may have receded, but for thousands of people, the crisis is far from over,” David Fisher, head of delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Nepal, said on Friday. “It is urgent to take the next steps in the recovery process to keep people healthy and avoid a spiral into poverty.”