Kathmandu, 04 September (H.S.): Mechanical engineer Sanjay Sah was rescued alive from a tunnel of the Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, 10 days after the devastating floods in the Bhotekoshi River. While trapped inside the tunnel, Sanjay faced every challenge with resilience and continuously chanted the “Hare Krishna Mahamantra.”

Following his rescue, Sanjay provided the rescue team with crucial information about the conditions inside the tunnel. He said around 40 to 45 people were present inside the tunnel when the disaster occurred. According to Sanjay Sah, an operator normally works in the control room of the Trishuli-3A project, while around four to five people remain there at other times. However, at the time of the incident, approximately 40 to 45 people had gathered there.

Sanjay was responsible for the control room. He said that after such a massive incident, it was not possible for him to make his way out alone. He asked the people present there to move towards a safer location, and a considerable amount of time passed as he tried to help rescue them.

“Tunnel is long; some people may still be trapped”

The rescue team also asked Sanjay how many more people he believed could still be trapped inside the tunnel. Sanjay said that around three or four people were in the vicinity of the place where he himself had become trapped. However, he said the tunnel is quite long and that there could also be people on the power-house side. He expressed the possibility that some people may have become trapped inside the tunnel because of the force of the rapidly flowing water.

Sanjay said, “The tunnel is quite long. It is possible that some people may have been trapped inside because of the force of the water.” When asked what had been his greatest source of strength during the 10 days he spent inside the tunnel, he said he continuously chanted the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. Sanjay said, “I was chanting the Mahamantra the entire time. Hare Krishna Mahamantra.”

The rescue team also told him that he had been given a second life. For Sanjay, emerging from the tunnel was nothing short of the beginning of a new life.

The story of a second life

In the same tunnel where, following the floods, the prospect of survival appeared extremely bleak, Sanjay Sah emerged alive after 10 days. His story is not merely that of a successful rescue operation; it is also a story of the patience and hope he maintained amid extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

According to Sanjay, chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra provided him with mental strength during those difficult days. Finally, after 10 days, the rescue team succeeded in bringing him safely out of the tunnel.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar