Nepal’s Hydropower Tunnel Survivor Tells the World: “I Had a Second Life” After 10 Days in Darkness

Nepal’s flash floods struck on August 26, trapping a hydropower worker, Sanjay Sah, inside a tunnel that became flooded and plunged him into total darkness. Multiple outlets report that Sah survived for ten days, drinking muddy water while losing any sense of time and repeatedly praying for rescue. He was finally pulled to safety on September 4 by a disaster response team, and in interviews published on September 13 he described the ordeal in detail. A separate report emphasizes that his testimony is also a call for sustained rescue and recovery efforts beyond the initial extraction. Geopolitically, the episode highlights how climate-amplified extreme weather can rapidly degrade critical infrastructure and strain national emergency capacity, even when the immediate story is humanitarian. Nepal’s hydropower sector is central to domestic energy security and to regional power trade ambitions, meaning disruptions can ripple into electricity reliability, fiscal planning, and investor confidence. The balance of power here is less about interstate rivalry and more about resilience: communities and operators that can harden assets, improve early warning, and coordinate rescue will gain credibility with regulators and financiers. Sah’s account also underscores the operational challenge for responders in flood-affected terrain, where access, communications, and logistics can deteriorate quickly. Market and economic implications are indirect but potentially material for Nepal’s energy and for regional supply chains tied to hydropower development. In the short term, flood damage risks delaying construction schedules, increasing repair and insurance costs, and raising the probability of higher electricity generation costs if outages force reliance on alternative supply. For investors and lenders, repeated extreme events can translate into higher risk premia for hydropower projects, affecting project finance terms and the cost of capital. While the articles focus on a single survivor, the underlying shock is a reminder that hydropower assets are exposed to hydrometeorological hazards that can translate into measurable volatility in energy planning and public spending. What to watch next is whether Nepal’s authorities and hydropower operators accelerate flood-risk mitigation, including tunnel safety reviews, drainage and diversion upgrades, and improved early-warning protocols for workers and contractors. Key indicators include the pace of rescue and recovery operations after September 4, the publication of incident assessments tied to the August 26 flood, and any reported damage estimates for hydropower facilities and access routes. Trigger points for escalation would be additional landslides or renewed flooding that complicates access to damaged sites, or evidence that similar tunnels lack adequate protective design. De-escalation would come from stable weather, completed rescue operations, and credible timelines for infrastructure restoration that reduce uncertainty for energy stakeholders.

Geopolitical Implications

• 01

  Extreme-weather shocks can undermine Nepal’s energy infrastructure and complicate energy security narratives.

• 02

  Hydropower project finance may face higher risk premia if flood exposure and tunnel safety gaps are confirmed.

• 03

  Emergency response performance becomes a governance signal for regulators and partners backing resilience.

Key Signals

• —Damage assessments and incident reports after the August 26 flood
• —Updates on ongoing rescue/recovery operations and secondary hazards
• —Hydropower operator actions on tunnel safety and evacuation protocols
• —Weather and river discharge trends affecting access to damaged sites