Oil well fire at Tinsukia in Assam, finally doused after 160 days -

Dispur: The fire in the oil well, of Oil India Limited, in the Bagjan village in the Tinsukia district, of Assam, which started five and a half months ago, has been finally doused. Three firefighters lost their lives in trying to control the fire. Three thousand residents from the village had to be moved to safe places, given the fire.

The oil well fire is doused and the situation is under control. There is no pressure in the well and inspection is being carried out, for any other leaks in the well. Tridiv Hazarika, the spokesman of Oil India Limited, informed that experts from Alert Disaster, a company from Singapore, are carrying out the work.

On 27th of May, there was an explosion in the concerned well, leading to a gas leak and on 9th of June, the well suddenly caught fire. The flares of the fire reached up to one and a half kilometres. The firefighters started work to control the fire. But three firefighters lost their lives while trying to control the fire.

Till now, 46,786 metric tonnes of Crude Oil and 124.15 million Metric Standard Metre Cube natural gas has been combusted. The Oil India Company had to move 3,000 residents to safer places. Twelve families who lost their homes in the fire have been given compensation of ₹2.5 million. The residents who were forced to move to camps, also are being paid ₹50,000 per month for expenses, by the Oil India company.

Meanwhile, National Green Tribunal (NGT) panel has blamed that the Oil India Company is operating the oil well, without necessary permissions and it is said that NGT will be taking action against the company.