Several studies are underway by different agencies to assess the impact on the fragile ecosystem due to blowout and subsequent fire at the natural gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district.
The gas well in Baghjan, located close to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park (DSNP) and Maguri Motapung wetland, had a blowout – an uncontrolled release of gas and oil on May 27 and it caught fire two weeks later on June 9.
While the blowout had displaced nearly 7,000 local residents, the fire claimed the lives of two OIL firefighters. It also destroyed nearly 30 houses, burned trees and crops in the radius of few hundred metres from the well and also impacted flora and fauna in the national park and the wetland, a prominent bird-watching site.
