NGT panel red-flags violations at OIL’s Baghjan project

POINTING OUT that OIL “does not have, till date, the required consent to establish and/or consent to operate to either carry out drilling and testing of hydrocarbons in Well Baghjan-5,” a panel of experts set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has flagged a series of violations in the company’s Baghjan project in Assam’s Tinsukia where a gas well erupted on May 27.

In a preliminary report, the panel has recommended “scrutiny of all existing projects of OIL in Assam” in view of “serious and grave infraction against the statutory environmental safeguards”.

The report blamed “deficiency in understanding” and “proper planning of critical operations” for the blowout. “There was a clear mismatch between planning and its execution at site and deviations from the standard operating procedure.