A massive fire has erupted in a damaged oil field that had been spewing gas for 14 days in Assam's Tinsukia district. According to local inputs, the massive flames coming from one of the oil wells at the Baghjan oil field are visible from a distance of over 4 kilometres. The incident has created panic among the local people.
Several fire tenders from Oil India Limited, ONGC, and Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts have rushed to the spot.
The Assam government has deployed a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), district officials, police and paramilitary forces to bring the situation under control. After Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal made a request to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Indian Air Force has also rushed its fire tenders to douse the fire breakout at Baghjan oil field.
Top officials of Oil India Limited are also on the spot.
A company spokesperson said no casualty or injury has been reported so far. However, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
#WATCH Massive fire at the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, Assam. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is present at the spot pic.twitter.com/Tw2G92aPXy
— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2020
Fire spreads to nearby houses
By 5 pm, the fire that started from the oil field had spread to nearby villages and burned several houses and other properties.
At least 30 houses near the Baghjan oil field have been destroyed in the fire and the fire is visible from 4-5 km away from the site.
Although, the fire is unlikely to lead to any loss of life as the authorities had evacuated 1,610 families living in the villages around the leaking oil field to relief camps earlier.
Loss of flora and fauna
Bhagjan oil well, which has been spewing gas for 14 days and is currently on fire, is only a kilometre away from Maguri-Motapung wetland. The site of the incident is also next to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.
The national park, spread over 340 square kilometres, is a biosphere reserve and home to 36 mammal species including tiger, Gangetic dolphin, feral horses and 382 bird species.
According to locals, several fishes, Gangetic river dolphins and birds have died due to the gas leak since May 27.
CM urges people not panic
In a series of tweets, the Chief Minister's Office said Sarabananda Sonowal spoke to Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the phone regarding the incident.
"The CM has already directed to deploy fire & emergency services, army and police officials at the site to control the situation. The CM also directed district admin to ensure safety of people and appealed to local people to not panic," it said.
The CM has already directed to deploy fire & emergency services, army and police officials at the site to control the situation.
— Chief Minister Assam (@CMOfficeAssam) June 9, 2020
The CM also directed district admin to ensure safety of people and appealed to local people to not panic.
Speaking to media, Assam CM Sonowal said that he has directed the state chief secretary and DGP to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety and security of the local people.
"Assam government has already taken appropriate measures to ensure safety and security of the local people following the fire incident at the gas well of Baghjan oil field. I directed the state chief secretary and DGP to take appropriate measures for it. The NDRF teams, paramilitary forces and the officials of the District administration have reached the site. I have already spoken with Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and appealed the Centre to take immediate action to control the situation.”
“I also appealed Union Defence minister Rajnath Singh to engage Indian Air Force to control the situation,” Sonowal said.
What led to the fire
On May 27, one of the oil rigs at oil well number 5 of the Baghjan Oil Fields suffered a blowout. After the incident, the oil field started spewing natural gas and condensed droplets.
Even though the authorities have been trying to control the gas leak ever since not much progress has been made.
The blast occurred at a time when the experts and engineers of Oil India Limited were engaged in controlling the gas and oil emission.
A three-member expert team from Singapore had also arrived at the site on Monday to control the situation. They had discussed with the Oil India Limited and ONGC teams about the situation, but a solution was yet to be found.
Oil India Limited says 1 employee injured
According to a statement issued by Oil India Limited, which operates the damaged oil well, one of their employees has sustained minor injuries. The company is evacuating all officials from nearby areas.
The company has also sought the government's help in controlling 'violent protests' near the site of the incident. Oil India Limited has requested the Assam government to maintain law and order so that 'the experts can enter the site and start well control operations'.
The statement issued at around 6 pm claims that the experts from Singapore have said that the oil well is now a safe working environment and that the experts are confident that the 'situation can be controlled and well can be capped safely'.