Baghjan fire: 11 Affected families receive compensation of Rs 20 Lakh each from Oil India

Over a month after the oil wells fire of Oil India Limited at Baghjan, Tinsukia, 11 affected families were given a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each by the oil PSU. Cheques of the said amount were handed over to the affected family members on Saturday by Bhaskar Pegu, the District Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia, in presence of the Police Superintendent, Oil India Limited officials and Assam Cabinet Minister Sanjay Kishan.

Oil India Limited experienced a gas blowout at well number 5 at its Baghjan Oilfield, in close vicinity of Dibru Saikhowa National Park and Maguri Motapung Beel, leaving natural gas and condensate oil gushing out in the open, displacing thousands of families besides leaving an adverse impact on the biodiversity of the region. The well caught fire on June 9.

As part of a TERI study on air quality and noise level, samples for monitoring air quality and noise level are being collected for analysis. Recording of data at already installed analysers is in progress. For TERI study on bioremediation of sludge, debris clearance as a part of site preparation for bioremediation job is being carried out along the roadside from the blow out well towards Maguri Beel.

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Baghjan-5 well incident

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

The well caught fire at around 1.14 pm on June 9. As per reports, the blaze was so huge that it could be seen from a distance of more than two km. The Indian Air Force deployed three fire tenders to douse the massive fire after a specific request from Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Oil India Limited (OIL) in a statement said that two of its employees, Durlov Gogoi and Tikheswar Gohain had died during the fire fighting operations. 

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