Assam: Massive fire Breaks out at Baghjan Oil well
Dibrugarh ( By Anil Poddar )– A massive fire erupted in Baghjan oil well in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday. The oil well, part of Baghjan oil fields, had suffered damage after a blowout on May 27 and has been spewing gas since then.
The incident has created panic among the local people, even as Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal appealed people to remain calm and assured that adequate forces were undertaking operations to douse the fire.
Chief Minister had a telephonic conversation with Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan regarding the blast at Baghjan oil field at Tinsukia.
Sonowal informed the incident at the Baghjan oil field and asked him to arrange all possible measures to control the situation.
The chief minister also instructed the district administration to ensure the security and safety of the people in and around the blast site. He also requested the people not to panic as the government will take all measures to control the fire.
While the clearing operations were on at the well site, the well caught fire. There is no casualty reported. A fire fighter from ONGC sustained minor injuries. Fire tenders are at the site controlling the spread of fire.
While chalking out the plans with ALERT team in the morning five options were presented by ALERT team which included “Capping Stack Guide Rail” Mechanism and “Ignite Well” options, ONGC & OIL teams had made considerable progress with the “Capping Stack Guide Rail” Mechanism and it was decided to proceed with the same. However, the current situation would be brought under control by the experts, said a oil official.
Post the incident, emergency meetings are underway with ALERT Team. They have expressed that it is now a safe environment for working and are confident that the situation can be controlled and the well can be capped safely.
The situation demands arrangement of large quantities of water, installation of high discharge pumps and removal of debris. All the operations as per ALERT will take about 4 weeks. Efforts will be made to reduce this timeframe as much as possible.
