NEEPCO pipeline burst : Rescue work yet to begin due to high

Rescue operations to locate four persons who are trapped inside the pump house of a NEEPCO hydro power plant in Assam could not be started on Thursday, four days after a catastrophic pipeline burst due to continued heavy water pressure in it, officials said.

The authorities of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) expect that the water level at its pump house in the plant in Dima Hasao district will take another two to three days to recede, a NEEPCO official said Thursday.

The rescue operation can be launched only after the water recedes to trace the three officials and a worker of the company who are trapped inside, he said.

Experts from NHPC and BHEL have joined in the state-run company's attempt to stop the extremely high volume water flow through the pipeline, Dima Hasao Deputy Commissioner Amitabh Rajkhowa told PTI.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force are camping at Kopili hydro electric plant of NEEPCO at Umrangso, he said.

"Three officials and a worker of NEEPCO, who were trapped inside, remain untraced and could not be rescued as the water level has not receded," Rajkhowa said.

The district administration has deployed a team of the local disaster management authority led by an assistant commissioner to assist NEEPCO, he said.

NEEPCO General Manager and head of Kopili Hydro Electric Project, Debotosh Bhattacharjee said "We are trying our best and hope the water level will recede in two to three days. Our priority is to rescue the trapped persons and to restore the system as soon as possible."