A day after massive fires erupted in a damaged oil field in Assam’s Tinsukia district, two bodies of Oil India Limited (OIL) firefighters Durlov Gogoi(35) and Tikheswar Gohain(55) were found at a wetland near the site of Assam oil well leak fire.
The cause of firefighter death is said to be drowning after both the employee of OIL jumped into a pond to avoid the flames. Drones were used by the Assam oil well leak after the Forest Department to identify the bodies at the accident spot.
“Families of Durlov Gogoi and Tikheswar Gohain will receive Rs 1 crore and 60 lakh, respectively, in compensation. The families would receive the pension and other benefits, one eligible family member will be offered a job in OIL,” said the Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary in a press release.
Baghjan Oil Well has been leaking oil for the past 14 days. On Tuesday massive fire erupted at the site and started spreading to adjoining areas.
A Singapore based company Alert Disaster Control sent three experts to the site, who started operations to control the gas leak. However, the matter got complicated once the well caught fire. While OIL stated in a statement, “During the cleaning operations at the well site, the well-caught fire”.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed at the accident spot. As per media reports, nearly 6,000 people living in a radius of 1.5-km from the site have been evacuated. Oil India Limited announced a financial relief of Rs 30,000 for every affected family.
“The CM has directed to deploy fire, emergency services, army and police officials at the site. He also directed the district administration to ensure the safety of people,” tweeted the CMOffice Assam. The wonk provides a piece of reader searched, reliable, and relevant news.
Later the fire at the accident spot became so massive that it can be seen from a distance of 30 kilometers, sky covered with thick black smoke going up to several meters.
If OIL had taken timely action to stop the oil leak, the fire and possible impacts of the leak could have been avoided. The fire which spread to over 1 kilometre is endangering the local biodiversity. The oil leaked over the past 14 days also poses a serious threat to the water contamination around the affected site.