Baghjan fire: 2 bodies fished out from lake near blowout site

Guwahati: A day after a blazing inferno engulfed the Baghjan blowout site in Assam's Tinsukis district, the bodies of two Oil India Limited (OIL) employees have been fished out from a nearby lake. The Baghjan fire has necessitated the evacuation of hundreds upon hundreds of locals.

The employees, identified as Durlav Gogoi and Tikheswar Gohain went missing after a major fire erupted at the site that has been continuously emitting gas and oil for over two weeks. According to media reports, the duo had jumped into a nearby lake after the fire broke, in a mood of panic. After an extensive search for the missing men, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel deployed in the area were finally able to locate the bodies of the dead men earlier in the morning today.

It may be recalled here that the producing well of Baghjan 5 under Baghjan Oilfield of Oil India Limited in Tinsukia district of Assam on May 27 became active while workover operations were on, triggering the evacuation of several hundred locals to safer areas.

Immediately after the mishap that transpired around, 10:30 am in the morning, the ongoing operations were suspended and the well started releasing natural gas in an uncontrolled manner. In the ensuing days, experts are still unable to plug the leak that has caused a major outcry among the locals, who are fearful for their lives. Yesterday, a major fire broke out at the site after two weeks of continued emissions, which is being doused by fire tenders.

In another development, OIL has confessed that it could take them several more weeks to plug the leakage. OIL, in its statement yesterday, informed that while chalking out the plans to control the blowout with the ALERT team in the morning, five options were presented by the ALERT team which included the "Capping Stack Guide Rail" Mechanism and "Ignite Well" options. ONGC & OIL teams had made considerable progress with the "Capping Stack Guide Rail" Mechanism and it was decided to proceed with the same. However, the current situation would be brought under control by the experts.

The OIL informed that the experts from ALERT and the staff of OIL/ONGC will move to the site once the situation returns to "normalcy". "Post the incident, emergency meetings are underway with ALERT Team. They have expressed that it is now a safe environment for working and are confident that the situation can be controlled and the well can be capped safely. The situation demands the arrangement of large quantities of water, installation of high discharge pumps, and removal of debris. All the operations as per ALERT will take about 4 weeks. Efforts will be made to reduce this timeframe as much as possible", said OIL.

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