GUWAHATI / TINSUKIA: The damaged one gas well to Baghjan in Assam was successfully “killed” and the fire was completely put out on Sunday after more than five months of an explosion, Oil India said.
The Northeast’s worst industrial disaster claimed the lives of three employees at the largest PSU and injured several more.
The process of controlling the well through the joint efforts of multiple teams, including foreign experts, also faced a series of setbacks.
“The well has been destroyed with a brine solution and is now under control. The fire was completely extinguished,” Oil India Ltd (OIL) spokesman Tridiv Hazarika said in a statement.
There is no pressure in the well now and it will be under observation for the next 24 hours to check for any amount of gas migration and pressure build-up, he added.
“More operations are underway to abandon the well,” Hazarika said, adding that experts from Singaporean firm Alert Disaster Control were actively involved in the final operation to control the well.
Company Director (Exploration and Development) P Chandrasekaran, Director (Operations) PK Goswami and Resident Executive Director DK Das visited the well site following the successful slaughter operation 172 days after the explosion and held discussions Detailed with Alert experts.
Well No. 5 in Baghjan in the Tinsukia District It was spewing gas uncontrollably since May 27 and caught fire on June 9, killing two of the OIL firefighters at the site.
On September 9, a 25-year-old electrical engineer from OIL lost his life due to a high-voltage electrical discharge while working at the well site.
On July 22, three foreign experts from Alert Disaster Control, which was helping OIL and ONGC experts put out hell, received burns while pulling a spool from the well head.
On video: Assam’s Baghjan oil well fire controlled after 172 days
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