Baghjan oil field fire: Here are the latest developments - 10 Jun, 2020

Guwahati: Currently, fire tenders are spraying water to contain the fire from spreading in the surrounding areas and arrangement for additional water for fire control is in progress at the Baghjan oil field fire site that erupted yesterday morning, Oil India Limited said in a statement.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Blowout Well caught fire around 1.14 PM on June 9. Two OIL Employees from Fire Services Durlov Gogoi, Assistant Operator, and Tikheswar Gohain, Assistant Operator perished during the fire and their bodies were fished out from a water body in the early hours of the morning. "Immediate compensation is being disbursed to the families of two OIL employees, who sacrificed their lives", OIL said in its statement.

OIL has further informed that four persons (two from OIL, one from ONGC and one from Contractor) sustained minor injuries and have been given immediate medical help.

Earlier in the afternoon, the CMD had a detailed discussion with Chandra Mohan Patowary, the Minister of Industries & Commerce at Tinsukia. Patowary had been sent by the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to take stock on the situation of Baghjan oil field fire. Bhaskar Pegu, the Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia was also present at the meeting.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel conducted another emergency Video Conferencing Meeting today at 10 AM with OIL teams at Duliajan and Baghjan. "The Minister took complete stock of the ground-level situation of the fire from the OIL team at Baghjan and advised OIL to take immediate action for providing all necessary support to the affected people in the fire. The Minister further advised the OIL team to take all steps to control the spread of fire", the OIL said in its statement.

As an immediate actionable measure after the meeting, the CMD-OIL constituted four teams -- Technical, Arrangements and Facilities, Relief and Rehabilitation, and Other Issues for effective execution of measures in the current crisis situation.

Meanwhile, the team of experts from the M/s Alert in Singapore also visited the well site in the morning along with OIL & ONGC teams to assess the current situation and is currently preparing the roadmap for the next course of action.

After the incident, the affected people in the surrounding areas are being accommodated at 12 relief camps at a safer distance with the help of District Administration, and arrangements for food and other basic needs have been made, the OIL said.

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