Guwahati (Assam): Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a meeting on Saturday. They had a discussion over Baghjan Gas Leak tragedy.
Several senior ministers and dignitaries were also present in the meeting. State minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and the team who are assessing the on-ground situation also joined the meeting.
Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna briefed Pradhan about the current situation at the well site, while Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta informed the law-and-order scenario in Baghjan.
Well no. 5 at Baghjan has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the past 18 days and it caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, killing two of OIL's firefighters at the site.
The blaze at the well is so massive that it can be seen from a distance of more than 30 km.
The thick black smoke from it is several metres high and the blowout is endangering the local biodiversity in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.
Though there is no fire in the periphery of the well site at present, the company has declared an area up to 1.5 km of radius as "red zone" to avoid any untoward incident and damage to the general public.
Already two officials of the OIL have been suspended for alleged negligence of duty at the gas well site, while a show-cause notice has been to John Energy Pvt Ltd, the outsourced private operator of the well.
An FIR has also been registered against Oil India and its outsourced private well operator John Energy for the Baghjan gas well blowout, which has polluted the environment and village surroundings.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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