Baghjan: Baghjan oil well No 5 has been burning for the last five months. The blowout site is located next to Dibru Saikhowa National Park (DSNP). Several attempts have been made by Oil India Limited (OIL) to douse the fire, but it has not been able to do so.
The protests against OIL are still being held, however, there is rarely any political outrage. Social media has been flooded with photographs and videos of the raging fire that led to large-scale environmental displacement.
Baghjan blaze has displaced many from their homes and three persons have died due to this.
An oil well fire in the Sibsagar district of Assam, in the 1960s, took around 90 days to contain. In the year 1995, a similar fire caused by a blowout in the East Godawari district of Andhra Pradesh took about 65 days to be put off completely.
Another oil well in Dibrugarh, Dikom oil well took around 45 days to put off the fire in 2005.
OIL made several attempts to douse the Baghjan fire, however, they were not successful. The company hired experts and brought technology from around the world, but their efforts did not work.
In the initial stage, a joint team of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and OIL attempted to douse the fire together, but they could not. Later on, Singapore-based Alert Disaster Control, an expert group, tried to contain the fire as well as mitigate the damage made to the environment. But their efforts were not successful.
The experts tried to inject "killing fluid" into the well. However, it was aborted in late September as a casing valve ruptured.
At the end of October, OIL adopted a new process of snubbing to contain the fire. They are expecting that the fire could be controlled by mid-November.
The National Green Tribunal has appointed a committee to give a status report on the blowout. In its recent report, the committee claimed that OIL's Baghjan operations are illegal. They have recommended legal actions against OIL. The final report of the committee is likely to be submitted by December 15.