On the fourteenth day of the gas lead from an Oil India Limited owned well, the oil caught fire near Assam’s Dibru Saikhowa National Park.
On the 27th of May, the Baghjan 5 well in the Tinsukia district of Assam which is at a distance of 900 meters from the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park reported a sudden blowout or an uncontrolled release of gas and oil. Reportedly, the incident occurred when there were two simultaneous operations underway. Nearly 3000 people from the region were evacuated. However, at least one dolphin, one particolored flying squirrel, and a variety of fish died in the incident.
4 Weeks Of Operations
The cause of a fire that broke out at 1.40 pm on Tuesday is still Unknown. The Oil India Limited issued a statement saying that emergency meetings are underway. In the statement it said,
“They have expressed it is now a safe environment for working and are confident that the situation can be controlled and the well capped safely. The situation demands the arrangement of large quantities of water, installation of high discharge pumps, and removal of debris. All the operations as per the experts will take about 4 weeks. Efforts will be made to reduce the time frame as much as possible.”
Meanwhile, after the Chief Minister of the state Sarbananda Sonowal requested the center to intervene, the Indian Air Force and Army have come to assist the government. While the Indian Air Force has sent three fire engines, the Army is on Standby. The Chief Minister said,
“Instructions have been issued to district officials to ensure the safety of local residents. I have apprised Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan about the incident and asked him to take steps to contain the fire and the blowout.”
As per the latest update, the blowout occurred when the firm tried to extract has from a depth of 3,729 meters. The Oil India Limited Spokesperson confirmed that no employee was injured in the incident. The firm has approached several experts from around the world to help stop the gas leak. The blowout has so far destroyed the tea gardens as well as the water bodies of Assam. The firm has announced 30,000 rupees relief to each affected family.
Source: Scroll.in
