THDC India has completed search and rescue operations following the tail race tunnel incident at the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project in Uttarakhand, India, with 10 workers confirmed dead.
The incident occurred at around 6.20pm on August 13 when a large volume of water and debris suddenly entered 1,440m into the tunnel, accompanied by a loud noise. At the time, 22 workers from Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) were carrying out concrete lining work at 1,230m. Twelve workers were safely evacuated and taken to hospital.
Following the incident, teams comprising THDCIL, HCC, the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Central Industrial Security Force and the district administration carried out the rescue operation.
The operation included dewatering the tunnel and removing debris for the search and rescue teams.
The Vishnugad-Pipalkoti project is a 4x111MW run-of-river hydropower scheme under construction in Chamoli district, approximately 225km from Rishikesh. The project is being developed on the Alaknanda River, a major tributary of the Ganga, and includes a 65m-high concrete diversion dam, a 13.4km head race tunnel and the 3.04km tail race tunnel where the incident occurred.
The first generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in December 2027, with the fourth and final unit to follow by June 2028.
This is the second fatal incident on an Indian hydro project in less than a month. On July 20, 25 people were killed after an explosion in an under-construction head race tunnel at NHPC’s Teesta Stage VI Hydroelectric Project in Sikkim.
