A Delhi-NCR team of “rat miners”, whose manual excavation helped rescue all 41 workers trapped in Silkyara tunnel in 2023, has offered to join rescue operations in flood-hit Nepal, where at least 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects and about 500 are believed to be inside tunnels. Nepal Army has been prioritising search and rescue operations in 19 hydropower tunnels.Anand Kansal, Pune-based volunteer coordinator for the team, has written to Indian ambassador to Nepal, seeking help in placing the miners’ expertise at the disposal of Nepalese authorities.“We were highly moved after seeing news and videos (of the floods)… this is one of the worst tragedies we’ve witnessed in recent times,” he said.Floods have damaged at least 12 hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot – four under construction, seven operational and one undergoing testing – with mud, boulders and debris blocking or collapsing sections of tunnels.The miners came into national prominence during the Nov 2023 Silkyara-Bend-Barkot tunnel operation after mechanical drilling repeatedly failed. They entered a narrow rescue pipe and manually excavated the final stretch through the debris, helping rescuers reach 41 workers after 17 days underground.A 12-member team of the miners was also deployed at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel in Telangana in Feb 2025 after a collapse trapped eight workers. They worked there alongside specialised rescue agencies in difficult, debris-filled conditions.
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Firoz Qureshi, who took part in the Silkyara rescue, said the team was ready to leave immediately if Nepal sought its help. “We know what those families are going through right now, waiting for word. If we can go and help, we are ready today, not tomorrow.”Monu Kumar, the youngest member of the group, said their manual techniques could be useful where heavy machinery was unable to penetrate. “Our hands and our tools can go where big machines cannot,” he said. “We just need permission to go and start.”
