Guwahati: The Assam government said Wednesday that two more months will be required by the experts to douse the flame at Oil India Limited’s (OIL) damaged gas well at Baghjan. The gas well is burning uncontrollably for the past 99 days.
Responding to a Zero Hour notice by Congress MLA Durga Bhumij, Commerce and Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that a team of experts from Canada is on the way to Baghjan in Tinsukia district to ‘kill’ the well through snubbing technology.
“The experts are on their way to Assam from Canada with all advanced equipment. They will kill the well through snubbing technology. After carrying out preparatory works, the exercise may take 6-8 weeks to complete,” Patowary said.
Snubbing is a type of heavy well intervention performed on oil and gas wells. In the meantime, the Oil India Ltd (OIL) is working on to control the well temporarily by shifting the flowing gas through a diverter and then producing the gas in two parallel lines, he added.
Also read: BOP placed over Baghjan gas well head, ‘killing’ to start soon: OIL
The well no. 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district has been spewing gas uncontrollably since May 27. It caught fire on June 9 killing two of OIL’s firefighters at the site.
The minister said that a total of 3,000 families have been shifted to relief camps and the OIL along with the Assam government are taking care of them.
“The 12 houses that were completely burnt are being offered Rs 24 lakh each. In addition to that 1,484 families living nearby the well have been offered one-time relief of Rs 30,000, while 1,197 families staying little far were given Rs 25,000 each,” said Patowary.
Besides, 57 families affected by the blaze will be provided Rs 10 lakh each and 561 more families with partial impact will be given Rs 2.5 lakh each as per the suggestions of the district administration, Patowary informed the House.
Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia raised the issue of the draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2020 and said it has waived the prior permission norms for setting up units for many sectors.