Guwahati: The All Assam Engineers’ Association (AAEA) has expressed growing concerns over a recent gas leak at a crude oil well in Sivasagar and has called for transparency and accountability from India’s state-run oil giants, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited (OIL). The engineers’ body has questioned the practice of declaring oil and gas wells as “abandoned” or “dried up” without robust oversight, citing the potential risks to human lives, property, and the environment.
The AAEA has raised suspicions about possible collusion between private operators and corrupt officials within ONGC and OIL, who may be operating defunct wells without public accountability. According to the association, these private entities often extract resources for personal gain under the radar, increasing the risk of hazardous incidents. The recent gas emission from a well in Bhatiapar-Bari Chuk in Sivasagar district bears chilling similarities to the catastrophic Baghjan blowout of 2020 in Tinsukia.
The AAEA has alleged that some corrupt officials may deliberately label active wells as ‘dry’ to facilitate access for private players. “Is there any mechanism to track or investigate these decisions? Once a well is wrongly declared abandoned, there’s little to no monitoring of its use,” said AAEA president Er Kailash Sarma, working president Er Nava J Thakuria, and secretary Er Inamul Hye.
The association has urged the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to establish a clear accountability framework to prevent such disasters in the future and to ensure that any dereliction of duty is met with strict consequences. They have also demanded a full disclosure of all ‘abandoned’ or ‘dry’ wells across the northeast and elsewhere in the country, along with a transparent record of the parties currently operating them.
The AAEA has further noted with concern that India continues to lack a well-equipped national emergency response unit for oil and gas-related disasters. “It is shameful that even after such high-profile disasters, the country has not built its own disaster management capability in the hydrocarbon sector,” the AAEA statement read. With northeast India emerging as a key hydrocarbon hub, the AAEA has stressed that the lives of local residents, ecological safety, and public accountability must take precedence over profit and privatization.
Read More: Manipur’s Linthoi Chanambam Makes History with Gold at Berlin Junior European Cup