Guwahati: Residents of Baghjan in Tinsukia district of Assam on Thursday filed a FIR against Oil India Limited (OIL) after a reported incident of gas condensate leakage from an oil well.
Many organisations have also lodged FIRs against OIL in addition to the locals.
According to reports, panic spread throughout the Baghjan area on Wednesday as a result of an uncontrollable gas condensate leak from an oil well operated by OIL.
Official reports state that a technical problem led to the gas leaking at a suction pipe on the surface level of the BGI well in Baghjan.
In a statement announcing the development, OIL public relations officer Bhairab Bhuyan explained that gas leaked as a result of a technical issue that was discovered as the well was being put up for production. Technical experts instantly stopped the leak after closing the well, according to Bhuyan.
The government has been requested by locals to cease all drilling operations until safety measures are established in the area.
The incident that occurred on Wednesday took place around three years after the Baghjan blowout of May 2020. Well no. 5 at Baghjan had been spewing gas uncontrollably since May 27, 2020 and caught fire on June 9 killing two of OIL’s firefighters.
The Baghjan issue was decided upon by the Supreme Court in August 2021, and it recommended the creation of 6 new committees, each with 4 members.
The Supreme Court’s hearing on Baghjan had earlier been challenged by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), who filed an appeal. The Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) meeting minutes from February 2017 reveal that OIL had asked for authorization to use the earlier public hearings.