A massive fire erupted in a damaged oil field 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 blaze at the Oil India Ltd's oil well was so massive that it can be seen from a distance of more than four kilometres, eyewitnesses said. The incident 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 put out the fire.
Several fire tenders from Oil India Limited, ONGC, and Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts were rushed to the spot. A company spokesperson said while no casualty was reported in the incident, one ONGC employee suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
There were protests in the area as the fire broke out, threatening the lives and livelihood of the people already facing the impact of the blowout for the last two weeks amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Ops to put the fire out
At least 15 fire tenders were on the spot working with the fire, while reinforcements from the Indian Air Force are being kept on standby.
The Assam government deployed a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), district officials, police and paramilitary forces to bring the situation under control. After Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal made a request to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Indian Air Force has also rushed its fire tenders to douse the fire breakout at Baghjan oil field.
"Three fire tenders have been deployed at the site to assist the administration in dousing the fire," Shillong based Defence PRO Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said.
However, as per a team of disaster management experts from Singapore, who was visiting the site to cap the gas leakage, have said that it may take up to four weeks to fix the problem.
Fire spreads to nearby houses
By 5 pm, the fire that started from the oil field had spread to nearby villages and burned several houses and other properties.
At least 30 houses near the Baghjan oil field have been destroyed in the fire and the fire is visible from 4-5 km away from the site.
Although, the fire is unlikely to lead to any loss of life as the authorities had evacuated 1,610 families living in the villages around the leaking oil field to relief camps earlier.
Source: India Today
