OIL cannot shirk responsibility for fire at Baghjan effectively: NGT
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Operation of the effectively that underwent a blowout earlier was outsourced to a Gujarat-based agency
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stated that Oil India Limited (OIL) cannot shirk responsibility for the fire at a natural gas well in eastern Assam’s Baghjan in June 2020 by blaming the agency its operation was outsourced to.
John Energy Private Limited, a Gujarat-based agency, had been working the Baghjan well.
Close to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park straddling Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts, Well No. 5 burst into flames virtually a fortnight after it underwent a blowout – uncontrolled ejection of gasoline at nice pace – on May 27, 2020. Two of OIL’s fire-fightiers have been killed at the location whereas an engineer died later through the course of an train to cap the effectively.
Hearing a plea by activist Bonani Kakkar and others, slamming the authorities for failing to forestall the blowout, the NGT had constituted a six-member committee to repair tasks.
A Bench headed by the surroundings watchdog’s Chairperson, Justice A.K. Goel, stated it prima facie agreed that OIL did not take security precautions and there was want for guaranteeing such incidents don’t recur.
“We direct this aspect to be gone into by a six-member committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in consultation with the DG Hydrocarbon and DG Mines Safety, DG Oil Industry Safety and PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation), Chief Controller of Explosives, New Delhi within three months,” the tribunal stated.
It additionally suggested the panel to evaluation the state of affairs and take acceptable measures, together with prescribing motion towards the people involved for the failures.
Compliance of security protocols
“It [committee] may also lay down the road map for ensuring compliance of safety protocols by all similar installations… The committee may also suitably take into consideration the observations in the reports of the committee earlier appointed,” the NGT stated.
The tribunal additionally fashioned a seven-member joint committee comprising officers from the Environment Ministry, Central Pollution Control Board, Assam Forest Department, the State’s Biodiversity Board and Wetland Authority.
A significant job of this joint committee could be assessing the injury to the surroundings round Baghjan – particularly the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and the Maguri-Motapung Wetland near the blowout effectively – and give you a restoration plan.
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