Assam OIL Well Fires Eventually Capped After 80 Days Of Blow Out

On May 27th there was a severe blowout in Baghjan of Tinsukia district in Assam due to the oil well which was leaking for 14 days. After over 80 days of the fires being active since May 27th, Oil India Limited finally succeeded in capping the oil well to prevent any further blowouts. The company said that -It was capped by placing a Blowout Preventer stack on the wellhead. After two endeavors since July 31st and the second attempt on August 10th failed, global experts arrived in Duliajan and joined the capping operations.

On the 31st of July, Oil India Limited initiated its first attempt towards installing a BoP(Blowout Preventer stack) which flopped after the 90-feet Athey Wagon, which had a measuring volume of around 20 tonnes, which had left the BoP toppled.

The following attempt aborted midway as after inching closer towards the cap. On the 10th of August OIL accomplished by installing a BoP on the wellhead of the oil well when abruptly one of the bull wires out of the two that were attached to the Wagon clasped while the alignment was in improvement, making OIL to remove the BoP.

A BOP or Blow out preventer is a specially-designed lid that is installed on top of the oil well during the drilling and completion of the stages of labor. The supervisor can close this lid to prevent the discharge of oil or gas in the event of emergencies.

An OIL press statement said, "The 16 studs have also been tightened. The preparations for killing operations are on. The BOP and the lines connected to it are being kept cool through continuous spraying of water,"

Also, Oil India Limited (OIL) spokesperson Tridiv Hazarika said, "We have successfully done the capping operation on Monday morning. Capping does not mean, we have doused the fire. Killing will be done tomorrow."

There are still some areas which continue to be affected by this fire, At least 3,000 residents in a 1 km radius of this oil well had to be vacated on May 27 after the blowout took place. The oil blowout had destroyed local tea gardens and water bodies in Assam which were a source of income to many and triggered protests by local residents. All together of 2,756 households were affected by the Baghjan oil well explosion and have been examined for evaluation of damage for compensation till Sunday in Doomdooma and Tinsukia circles. In June, the National Green Tribunal had addressed Oil India Limited to pay an interim fine of Rs 25 crore for the destruction induced to public health and wildlife due to this oil well blowout.