The well at the company Baghjan oil field had a blow out – uncontrolled release of gas and oil condensate – on May 27 during a work over operation and caught fire on June 9, killing two firefighters and destroying 13 houses located close by. Nearly 9,000 people from the area were shifted to relief camps after the well caught fire.
It has been exactly a month since an Oil India Limited’s (OIL) natural gas well caught fire in Assam’s Tinsukia district but it continues to blaze despite efforts to control it. Officials had expected the fire to be put out by July 7 but the firefighting operations have been affected by flood in the state and it is now being hoped that the blaze will be doused by July 15.
Foreign experts brought in to put out the fire and plug the blow out were expected to complete the task by July 7. But floods caused by heavy rains inundated the area near the well and damaged roads and a bridge leading to the site affecting work for several days.
