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Nepal Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle on Saturday said India has extended generous support to the country following devastating flash floods and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have expressed strong solidarity in the wake of the tragedy.
Speaking with ANI, Wagle said they are hoping against odds that people trapped in hydropower projects will be rescued. "We've received very generous supplies from India. I think three cargo planes have already arrived. Prime Minister Modi and the EAM have been very positive about expressing their solidarity and even pledging any amount of support that Nepal needs. They've also been concerned about the Indian pilgrims who have been stranded, and their rescue is also a priority for us," he said. Wagle said rescue teams are continuing efforts to locate dozens of people feared trapped in hydropower projects and strong efforts are being made to meet various challenges. He said a "herculean effort" was undertaken at the Trishuli 3A project to locate the entryway into a tunnel, based on the assumption that people could be trapped inside. "We are hoping against odds that dozens of people trapped in hydropower projects might still be rescued, and in the Trishuli 3A project, there was a herculean effort today to find the entryway into the tunnel under the assumption that there are people trapped there. Trishuli 3B and upper Trishuli 1 are all major hydropower projects where people might still be trapped. Effort is continuing today. There are reports that some people might still be stranded in the jungles near the border," he said. "That is another area that we would need to look at. But simultaneously, we've now accelerated the pace of distribution of relief materials because, you know, so many villages are disconnected. 19 Strong bridges have been wiped out, so you know just across the river these villages are completely isolated, and there are reports that food supplies are running out, and there are many young people, women, and children who are isolated. There's an ongoing effort to address a lot of that," he added. The death toll from the catastrophic Rasuwa Bhote Koshi flash floods has risen to 675, with emergency teams recovering bodies and human remains across multiple downstream districts, according to the latest updates released by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). As of 6:30 pm, 2,418 individuals remain missing or out of contact following the deluge. (ANI)
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