Engineers Use WhatsApp to Navigate Nepal’s Disaster Tunnels

The digital network, originally formed by industry professionals before the disaster, has become an essential bridge between ground teams and those with intimate knowledge of the region's complex hydropower infrastructure. When physical search efforts stalled at sites like Rasuwagadhi—where crews hit a wall of mud 250 metres into a tunnel—the group provided the necessary structural layouts to guide operations. In one instance, members rapidly shared engineering drawings for the Chilime project, directly informing the path forward for search teams.

This crowdsourced technical support has already yielded results. Two survivors were pulled from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A plant nine days after the flooding began, a discovery that bolstered morale and underscored the importance of specific underground mapping. Beyond layouts, the group serves as a clearinghouse for information, circulating names of the missing and coordinating with telecommunications officials to triangulate last-known locations. The crisis, which has claimed over 1,200 lives and wiped out 10% of Nepal's power generation capacity, remains a race against time. As excavators clear the debris, the collaboration between army personnel and the engineering community represents a vital, real-time response to a disaster that has physically reshaped the valley.