Centre forms 3-member inquiry committee to probe circumstances leading to Assam fire

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) on Thursday anunced that a three-member committee will inquire about blowout at Assam's Baghjan oil field. committee comprising of DG of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons - SCL Das, former chairman ONGC - BC Bora, former Director of ONGC - TK Sengupta will submit its report within a month.  committee has also been asked to submit a list of measures to prevent such incidents in future and to analyse existing lapses in current Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of company. 

Speaking on June 10, Minister of MoPNG, Dharmendra Pradhan assured full cooperation and said that affected families will be given relief and compensation, as may be finalized with state government. 

Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sowal also ordered a high-level inquiry into circumstances that led to a blowout.  probe ordered by state government will be conducted by Additional Chief Secretary Maninder Singh, who has been asked to submit report within 15 days. 

READ | OIL confirms death of two employees during fire fighting operations at Baghjan oil well

Fire breaks out at Baghjan well

Set up by Oil India Limited in 2006, Baghjan 5 well produces around 80,000 standard cubic metres per day of gas from a depth of 3,870 metres.  blowout at this well occurred on May 27 when two simultaneous operations- servicing of top portion of well and testing new sand in well were going on. At least one dolphin and a variety of fish died as residue of gas condensing after coming in contact with water spread to a distance of 5 km in nearby areas. 

well caught fire at around 1.14 pm on Tuesday. As per reports, blaze was so huge that it could be seen from a distance of more than two km.  Indian Air Force deployed three fire tenders to douse  massive fire after a specific request from Assam CM Sarbananda Sowal to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. On June 10, PM Modi spoke to Assam CM and assured him all possible support from Centre. 

READ | Assam gas well fire: 7,000 people moved to 12 relief camps

OIL's statement

Oil India Limited (OIL) also issued a statement on June 10. company revealed that two of its employees, Durlov Gogoi and Tikheswar Gohain had died during fire fighting operations. It stated that bodies of employees had been recovered on Wednesday morning and immediate compensation was being disbursed to ir kin. Moreover, 4 or persons who sustained mir injuries were rendered immediate medical help.

READ | PIL filed in Gauhati High Court over Assam gas well trdy