Plan ready to douse Assam well fire, inquiry panel formed: Oil India

A 'roadmap' has been chalked out to douse Assam's oil well fire, which continues to blaze for the fourth day on Friday and has till now claimed two lives, the state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) announced.

An OIL release said that a "roadmap" for the well control operation by experts' team from Singapore based M/s Alert, along with ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), Crisis Management Team and V.P. Mahawar, Ex-Director (Onshore) of ONGC has been prepared to put out the inferno and plug the 17-day long leakage of gas and oil condensate in an OIL's oil well in Tinsukia district.

It also added that a high discharge water pump was placed at the site while suitable place for stacking of materials and equipment was being mobilised from ONGC to be used for the control operation has been identified.

Engineers accompanied by experts from Singapore firm and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) further intensified their efforts to tame the blaze.

At least two fire fighters of OIL were killed and four others including one from ONGC were injured near the oil well blowout site on Wednesday. The inferno was so intense that it could be seen from as far as 10 km away. People on social media said they could see it from their window and it gave them "Chernobyl-like" vibe.

National Disaster Response Team (NDRF) personnel carry the bodies of two firemen of Oil India Limited who went missing after the explosion at Baghjan oilfield, in Assam’s Tinsukia district. PTI

Around 7,000 people were evacuated and sheltered in 12 relief camps while the inferno completely and partially burnt more than 35 houses. The OIL has lost over 467 MT of crude oil production from 59 producing wells due to blockades by the local people and various students' organisations in two districts of Assam.

OIL was forced to stop its operations in three drilling locations and nine work-over locations spread over the areas of Baghjan (Dighal tarrnag), Barekuri, Dhakual, North Balijan, Bozaloni, Borhapjan, Jorajan and Naharkatiya in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts.

The state-owned OIL has also given financial aid of Rs 30,000 to each of the affected families.

Oil Ministry sets up high-level panel to inquire

The Petroleum Ministry has constituted a three-member high-level committee to inquire into the blowout at an Oil India Ltd well in Assam and the subsequent fire that killed two firefighters and injured at least one.

The panel will be headed by SCL Das, Director General of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), a ministry order said.

It will "identify the lapses in following laid down protocols and procedures which led to the incident," the order said.

The committee will also recommend short and long-term measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents including identifying any gaps in laid down standard operating procedure. The panel, which also includes former ONGC chairman B C Bora and former ONGC director T K Sengupta, will submit its report within one month, the order said.

The cause of the fire has not been ascertained till now.

The fire in around 200 metres periphery had completely burnt about 15 houses, while another 10-15 houses have been partially affected.

According to OIL, three firemen, two from OIL India, and one from ONGC jumped in a water pool nearby when the fire broke out. While ONGC fireman got injured, two OIL India firemen could not save themselves. Their bodies have been retrieved.