Baghjan mishap in Assam prompts Centre's SoP review, action on OIL officers

The Union petroleum ministry has decided to review the standard operating procedure (SoP) to prevent mishaps in oil and gas installations in view of the blowout and fire in the natural gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) at Baghjan in Assam's Tinsukia district.

"In order to prevent such accidents in future, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are also being re-visited for making improvements, if any," Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed Lok Sabha on Monday in written replies to questions about the Baghjan mishap.

Minister said the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) reported 42 mishaps from refineries and oilfields/wells from oil and natural gas companies situated in different parts of the country since 2017-18. In most incidents of gas leakages in any pipeline, the oil & gas wells were closed immediately to prevent fire/loss of oil and gas and after carrying out a leakage rectification job, operations are normalized and production is restored, he said.

Two firefighters and a young electrical engineer died during efforts to douse the Baghjan well fire that broke out on June 9, two weeks after it blew out. The fire in the well, however, could not be doused on Monday, even after more than 100 days despite efforts by experts from the US, Canada, and Singapore.

Several houses were burnt down, tea gardens, agricultural land damaged while the condensate flowing out of the well had an adverse impact on Maguri-Motapung beel, an ecologically rich water body situated near the mishap site. A study by Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India found that over 60 to 70 hectares of land in and around the mishap site were destroyed due to the uncontrollable flow of condensate and fire.

"Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas regularly monitors and reviews various safety measures in the oil and gas sector and directs the companies from time to time to take suitable measures to ensure safety in these installations. OISD, a technical Directorate of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas formulates safety standards for the entire Oil & Gas Industry. The Directorate carries out regular safety audits to check and review whether the safety standards and norms are being followed by the industry. The audits include External safety Audits & Surprise safety Audits at periodic intervals to cover all the existing installations; pre-commissioning safety audit of all new facilities being added to the existing installation and the new installation is set up, before commissioning of the facilities", said Pradhan, who earlier reviewed the efforts to douse the Baghjan fire.

Admitting about the impact of the heat and noise generated from the gas well, Pradhan said nearly 3,000 families were evacuated to relief camps following the mishap.

Action taken:

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has constituted a three-member inquiry committee to inquire into the Baghjan incident. "In addition, inquiry committees have also been set up by Directorate General of Mines and Safety (DGMS), and Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD). Two officers of OIL directly looking after the operations of the well before the blowout have been suspended, Pradhan said.

Compensation:

Tinsukia district administration has constituted a committee for assessment of property loss for which OIL has to deposit the compensation amount to the district administration for disbursal to the affected families. So far, 2,756 families have been identified for compensation in Doomdooma and Tinsukia circle and Rs. 10,93,50,500 has been deposited with the district administration by OIL for providing one-time compensation of Rs. 30,000 each to the 3,645 affected families.

He informed that as per the directive of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the OIL handed over cash of Rs. 25 lakh each for 12 families whose houses have been completely damaged, Rs. 10 lakh each to 57 families whose houses were severely damaged and Rs. 2.5 lakh each to 561 families whose house have been moderately /partially damaged or whose standing crops and horticulture have been partially damaged.