Archived event
14 hydropower projects hit and the whole border road destroyed
This briefing has been overtaken
It was published at 27 August 2026, 9:30 am NPT and is kept online as the record of what was confirmed at that hour. Figures in it are no longer current.
Read the latest briefing: बागलुङमा सडकका कुकुर व्यवस्थापन गर्न ‘कुकुर होस्टेल’ · Current event summary
The Nepal Electricity Authority reports 14 hydropower projects damaged with a combined capacity of about 748 megawatts: nine operating plants totalling 354 MW and five under construction totalling 394 MW.
Named projects include Rasuwagadhi, Chilime, Sanjen Khola, Upper Trishuli-1, Trishuli and Devighat, along with a 220 kV substation. Twelve staff of the Upper Trishuli-3B project are reported out of contact.
An earlier estimate the same day, from the Ministry of Energy, put the loss at 431 MW. Both figures were published on 27 August, which is a fair measure of how provisional every damage number is right now.
The Department of Roads confirms the entire 42 km road from Betrawati in Nuwakot to the Rasuwagadhi border crossing has been destroyed at multiple points, including several concrete bridges. A further 16 km stretch nearer the border, recently upgraded with Chinese government financing, was also swept away.
That road is Nepal's main overland trade and pilgrimage route to Tibet, and it is also the road rescue teams need. Much of the response has had to go by helicopter instead.
Nine commercial bank branches were swept away with 26 staff unaccounted for, and the Rasuwa customs office at Timure lost contact with 15 employees.
No government or humanitarian body has yet published a figure for how many people have been displaced. UN OCHA names that as the priority information gap for the coming days.