Guwahati: The Assam government said on Wednesday that it may take two more months for experts to extinguish the fire in the damaged oil well of Oil India in Bagajan. Gas has been coming out of this well in an uncontrolled way for the last 99 days. In response to the notice of Congress MLA Durga Bhumij during Zero Hour, Commerce and Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patwari said that a team of experts is coming to Assam with advanced equipment from Canada. He will shut down the well through “snubbing technology”. This process may take six-eight weeks to complete.
He said that meanwhile, Oil India Limited (OIL) is trying to temporarily control the gas coming out of the well. Gas has been coming out uncontrolled way since May 27 in well number five in Bagajan of Tinsukia district. On June 9, there was a fire in which two OIL firefighters were killed.
The minister said that a total of three thousand families have been sent to relief camps. OIL is taking care of them together with the government. He said that the locals are getting restless due to the delay in getting compensation and the company’s inability to extinguish the fire. They have been camping outside the Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia since 24 August.
