Crude oil surfaces in Kakodonga area, triggers panic among villagers

From a Correspondent

JORHAT, June 13: Sensation prevailed in Uzir Gaon, under Kakodonga area of Golaghat bordering Jorhat following leakage of crude oil with strong kerosene scent in the house of one Bipin Bora. The sudden outburst of the crude created one or two holes in the living area of Bipin Bora’s house. Farmer by profession, Bipin Bora initially got a scent of kerosene but after an hour saw black oily liquid substance surfacing from the ground below.

A jourlist of an electronic news channel of Jorhat who went there to cover the news, brought a cup of the oil to a safe distance hundreds of meter away from the spot and tried to light it. The substance caught fire and was burnt completely. After the news spread and the issue was taken up with some executives of NRL and oil manufacturing companies, two theories came up - one possibility being some miscreants trying to dig a hole in a nearby pipeline to extract crude to be filled into tankers or there could be a leak in the pipeline 15 feet below carrying crude oil to Numaligarh Refinery.

Senior oil executives have ruled out the possibility of crude oil being stuck at this point since the substance is believed to be found several hundred metres below the ground and not merely at a 3-4 foot level. But even then an emergency response team from either OIL, NRL or ONGC was yet to be sent to the spot despite information by the villagers to the district administration and the refinery technical team. People near the house of Bipin Bora were terrified. With no electricity in the area, most of the people use firewood and earthen lamps for light and were frightened to use them fearing an explosion or a major fire.

One officer of the emergency response team of OIL based in Jorhat said on condition of anonymity, “Till now we have not dispatched any team to the site because NRL has not informed about any loss of weight in the flow of the crude oil. Technically it’s like when we pump crude at 10 kg pressure, NRL must receive the crude at the same pressure. If the pressure comes down below 10 only then can we be assured of leakage in the pipeline or punching holes by oil thieves and then we mobilize our team. It is our pipeline that goes through Uzir village to reach NRL.”