Assam: National Green Tribunal Rejects Claim of Baghjan Victims

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday rejected a claim by victims of the Baghjan oil well blowout seeking interim compensation for additional families for the effects of the disaster on their lives.

The blowout and fire at Well No. 5 in the Baghjan Oil Field, which is operated by Oil India Limited, resulted in three deaths, large-scale evacuations, and environmental damage to the nearby Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Maguri-Motapung Wetland.

The tribunal based its rejection on a set of 'preliminary interim measures' taken by an NGT-appointed committee in August 2020. It took several more months before the fire at the oil well was finally snubbed out on November 15, 2020. As the fire raged for almost six months in 2020, 9,000-odd people were temporarily displaced from their homes.

The initial assessment by the Assam government showed that the explosion and resultant fire caused by an oil spill and leaking condensates from the well damaged around 1,580 hectares of agricultural fields and tea gardens and contaminated water bodies in the surrounding area.

As a part of the 'preliminary interim measures,' the NGT-appointed committee led by former Gauhati High Court B P Katakey classified the victims under three different categories, based on the damages caused to them.

Based on the committee's recommendations, the scale of interim compensation was Rs 25 lakh for the first category, Rs 10 lakh for the second category, and Rs 2.5 lakh for the third category. Initially, only 12 families were paid Rs 25 lakh as their houses were 'completely' gutted by the fire, with the other two categories having their properties 'severely gutted' and 'moderate/partially gutted,' respectively.

During the instant hearing on Friday, NGT's Eastern Zone bench, comprising of judicial member Justice B Amit Sthalekar and technical member Dr. Arun Kumar Verma, rejected the petition, stating, "We are quite satisfied that 161 families who have been placed in Category-[i] do not stand at par with the 'initial 12 families" for whom the compensation of Rs 25 lakh was determined under the head Category-[i]. Any such direction would amount to unequals being placed at par with equals," stated the bench while pronouncing the judgement.

It was also made clear that the recommendation made by the Deputy Commissioner, Tinsukia, even if accepted by the Committee of Experts headed by Justice B. P. Katakey, would be subject to any order of the NGT, upon consideration of the same.

However, the NGT bench made it clear that they have not expressed any opinion on the question of payment of final compensation, which still needs to be determined in the pending Original Application No. 44/2020/EZ.

Also Read: Assam: OIL launches two development projects at Baghjan

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