Assam oil well fire: The Army has cordoned off the area where the industrial disaster happened
The Army has cordoned off the site of a big oil well fire in Assam's Tinsukia district. The Oil India Ltd's site had been leaking gas for 14 days before it caught fire on Tuesday. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force along with the local authorities are trying to contain the fire.
The company said it has suspended two senior executives who were in charge of the oil well operations.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said it could take three-four weeks to put out the fire that is being fed by a steady stream of high-velocity gas escaping from the ground.
Mr Sonowal today ordered a high-level probe into the circumstances that led to the blowout at a gas well. Additional Chief Secretary Maninder Singh will head the probe and will give a report in 15 days. "The probe will look into the allegation of negligence on the part of some officials of the company and its private well operator. It will find out who is responsible for this tragedy," an official at the Chief Minister's Office said.
The bodies of two Oil India firefighters were found at a wetland near the incident site on Wednesday.
Though the fire that has spread to nearby areas is under control, the company has declared an area of up to 1.5-km radius as "red zone" to avoid any incident. "Now only the flowing gas is burning at the mouth of the well," Oil India senior manager (public affairs) Jayant Bormudoi said, adding three more experts from the US and Canada will reach Assam in two days to control the blaze.
Thousands have evacuated to 12 relief camps. Some villagers told NDTV they heard a loud bang from the oil well blowout site, which briefly led to panic in the area.
The families of the two Oil India officials who died tackling the massive fire will get immediate compensation, the company said in a statement.
The oil well at Baghjan Tinsukia, 500 km from main city Guwahati, had a blowout on May 27 and has been leaking gas since, causing damage to the region's wetlands and biodiversity.
Images shared by residents on social media show gas condensate depositing at Maguri Beel wetland, carcasses of endangered the Gangetic Dolphins and other aquatic life floating in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, barely 3 km from the oil field.
Paddy fields, ponds and wetlands at adjoining villages have been contaminated and the threat is growing with every passing day. Several small tea growers in the area have complained about layers of gas condensate at their tea gardens.