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1,000 displaced by gas leak at ONGC well in Assam, Himanta writes to minister Hardeep Puri: ‘Perception of inadequate urgency'
A gas leak at an ONGC well in Assam's Sivasagar district, which has displaced over 1,000 people, continued for a seventh day Wednesday, with authorities struggling to plug it and prevent it from catching fire.
The blowout had taken place on June 12, with ONGC reporting gushes of gas were observed during servicing operations at well no. RDS-147 in its Rudrasagar Field in Sivasagar, its oldest field in North East India.
While no fire or injuries to personnel have been reported so far, the Sivasagar district administration has evacuated around 1,500 people from the area around the well in Bhatiapar and 70 families have been put up in a relief camp in nearby Bangaon. Panic over the effects of the blowout rose after a person from the area was taken in an unconscious state to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital for treatment on Tuesday evening.
'One patient had been brought from Bhatiapar Tuesday evening and admitted to the ICU. He is improving now, we are investigating his condition and its cause,' said Dr. Manab Jyoti Gohain, superintendent of the institute.
However, in a statement issued Wednesday, the company stated that an analysis of the released gas has been carried out through sample collection, which has shown that the gas is non-toxic in nature.
'Being lighter than air, the gas is dispersing upwards into higher altitudes, minimising risk to nearby habitations. The gas, composed of 97% methane, ascends to higher altitudes due to its lightness and does settle down due to weight,' says the statement.
With the situation extending into a week, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on Wednesday to Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri requesting him to direct ONGC to 'adopt a more mission mode approach'.
'Over 330 families have had to be evacuated and are being supported by the state government with basic relief and safety measures. While the district administration and state agencies are fully engaged on the ground, I am constrained to convey that the local perception is one of inadequate urgency and seriousness in ONGC's response,' he wrote. The state government has also announced Rs. 25,000 per affected family as 'immediate relief', which Sarma said will be taken from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
ONGC officials have said that the blowout in a field that the company has operated since the 1960s 'was a very big surprise'. On Tuesday evening, Bhaskar Choudhury, Executive Director of ONGC's Assam Asset, said that the primary effort over the past week has been in the form of pouring water on the well, or 'water blanketing'.
'Because of that the temperature comes down. Our experts have also advised us to keep the water continuing. Multiple pumps have been arranged to keep this going and temporary water lines are being laid so that the supply is not interrupted,' he had told reporters.
An ONGC official said that the primary purpose of this is to prevent it from catching fire. A blowout at a well in an oil field in Oil India Limited's Baghjan Oilfield in 2020 had resulted in a fire that had lasted for five months, from May to September that year.
'When that quantity of gas is being released, the smallest amount of ignition can lead to a fire. The primary objective is to prevent a fire so that no fire incident takes place,' said the official.
The official also said that the gas at the well had been leaking at a pressure of around 2,500 PSI which was reduced on Wednesday.
'ONGC has successfully connected the well to a nearby production facility, thereby diverting a portion of the gas in a controlled manner,' read the statement issued Wednesday by the company.
