The air has a sulfuric stench to it, smells like a stew of rotten eggs and petrol. The air is also thick with choicest cuss words바카라”an unapologetic assault on Oil India Ltd for its inability to plug a gas leak after a blowout in a well on May 27 in eastern Assam. The accident prompted authorities to relocate close to 2,500 residents away from the site, huddle them into temporary shelters set up in schools. Many of them reported laboured breathing and headache as the crude gas바카라”shooting almost ten storeys up like a giant hissing geyser바카라”blanketed the area. The families in those shelters are worried about their homes, livestock, and children amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the state. The men are finding refuge in expletives and card games when they are not foraging for firewood for the kitchen with a herky-jerky rain beating on the tin roof.
The downpour couldn바카라™t have come at a more opportune time for the technicians of Oil India working tirelessly to contain the damage and prevent the highly inflammatory gas from catching fire. A fire would be the last straw given the site바카라™s location at Baghjan in Tinsukia district. It is barely 1.5 km from Dibru Saikhowa National Park바카라”an ecological hotspot known for its birds and feral horses (fine military steed abandoned by the British during World War II)바카라”and Maguri-Motapung Beel, a wetland on the fringes of this tree-hugging country, where pumpjacks and tropical rainforests fight for space. 바카라śThings don바카라™t look good at all with the continuous leakage of gas and oil. It has already spread to the rice fields. Domestic animals have suffered too,바카라ť says Nirantar Gohain, an eco-campaigner from the area.
The rain has triggered runoffs to the ponds and streams, and oil slicks are visible in several areas. 바카라śWe have seen a dead xihu (dolphin in Assamese) and fishes. The loud hissing sound is scaring off birds in the forests,바카라ť Gohain says. He fears a larger environmental disaster if the leaking well is not sealed. The state forest department issued a notice to Oil India on May 29 over the dead fishes and dolphin, a protected and endangered species. CM Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the pollution board chief for a report.
Oil India is aware of the consequences. It has contacted three foreign oilfield firefighting firms바카라”Boots and Coots, Alert, and Wild Well Control바카라”to repair the damage. A notice was served to John Energy Pvt Ltd, the company contracted to operate the well. Oil India warned of 바카라śaction바카라ť against its employees if human error is detected. Spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika says the PSU will pay damages to the people for any loss of livelihood and livestock. The blowout may raise questions about Oil India바카라™s plan to drill seven wells inside Dibru Saikhowa from about 1.5 km outside the park바카라™s boundary. The company says it will use advanced technology, but citizens aren바카라™t convinced as the blowout rekindled memories of past disasters. Spills from a pipeline burst바카라”allegedly the handiwork of crude oil thieves바카라”had sparked a fire on a rivulet of the Burhi Dihing river in Naharkatia this February and it burned for almost a week. Before that, 45 days and the help of Americans were needed to fully control a well blowout in Dibrugarh district in 2005.
By Abdul Gani in Guwahati
