Indian Army constructs Composite Bridge at Baghjan blowout site

Guwahati: Indian Army personnel on Monday finally completed the construction of a Composite Bridge at the blow out site of Well Number 5 in Baghjan Oil Field in Upper Assam's Tinsukia district.

Oil India Limited (OIL) on 14 June through the Civil Administration had requisitioned assistance of the Indian Army for construction of the bridge at the incident site. "The construction of this bridge was extremely critical for the task of controlling the fire, as it provides the only access to the experts to approach the well. The experts now plan to lay a heavy-duty pipeline over the bridge and create a water umbrella for dousing the fire", officials said.

The execution of this engineering feat was a challenging task that involved the mobilisation of 233 metric tons of bridging stores over 400 kilometers. 150 specially trained troops of Army undertook the task for construction under extremely risky and hazardous conditions in the vicinity of the raging fire with working temperatures exceeding 75 degrees celsius.

"Undaunted by the multitude of engineering challenges the Army constructed the bridge in a short time of 24 hours under heavy rainfall and extreme temperatures. The bridge has provided the much-needed impetus to the ongoing disaster relief efforts. A special team will continuously maintain the bridge and keep it afloat even in the harshest of conditions", officials further informed.

It needs mention here that a blowout occurred at Well no. 5 of the Baghjan oil field operated by Oil India Limited on May 27. On June 9, the oil well caught fire. The fire quickly spread to a larger area and burned down nearby trees, crops and houses. The fire also resulted in the death of two employees. This also caused protests in some parts of the state by environment activists, local residents, and students, placing immense pressure on OIL, which has reported losses in productivity owing to the blockades and bandhs.

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