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Oil India Limited on Thursday said gas is still leaking “uncontrollably” out of its Baghjan well in Assam’s Tinsukia district, more than a week after a major blowout at the spot. The company added that is adopting measures to avert a fire.
A major blowout took place on May 27 at the company’s gas-producing well in Assam’s Baghjan village, which comes under the Baghjan Oilfield. At least 3,000 people in a 1.5-km radius of the oil well had to be evacuated. Oil India Limited had approached several experts to help stop the gas leak.
In a press release on Thursday, the company said that it was continuously pumping water to the well to minimise the chances of a fire and had called in a team of experts from Singapore to help manage the situation. “Oil fire service and with mutual aids are stationed at the site,” the company said. “The presence of gas and air and water quality are being monitored at constant interval at strategic points.”
The oil-producing giant said that ambulances and paramedical staff are on stand by at the site and a National Disaster Response Force team has been deployed to supervise the relief operation.
Oil India Limited added that it has engaged National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) accredited consultants to carry out an environment impact assessment study. The company has also approached the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, and the Wild Life Institute of India for conducting detailed impact assessment studies.
The oil blowout has destroyed local tea gardens and water bodies in Assam. On Thursday, locals forced to move to relief camps staged a protest demanding compensation for their loss, The Telegraph reported. A unidentified senior Oil India official told the newspaper that a decision on emergency financial relief to the affected people could be taken by Friday.