Lok Sabha Question No. 18 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-14
Subject: Fire at Baghjan Oilfield in Tinsukia, Assam
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Pradan Baruah, DNV Senthilkumar. S., Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Manickam Tagore B, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Supriya Sadanand Sule

## Fire at Baghjan Oilfield in Tinsukia, Assam

## 18. SHRI PRADAN BARUAH:

DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR S.: DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B.: SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

## पैोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंी

## Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the massive fire at Baghjan oilfield in Tinsukia, Assam of Oil India Limited (OIL) have had a devastating effect on human capital, livelihood, crops and ecology of the area, if so, the details thereof along with the loss incurred/loss of life reported and the number of people evacuated;

(b)  the  details  of  plan  to  compensate  the  effected  residents  and  undertake  the resettlement and rehabilitation programme along with the expected timeframe in this regard;

(c) the details of safeguard measures including disaster mitigation plans put in place by OIL in the perspective of oil well blowout;

(d)whether  the  Government  has  constituted  any  inquiry  in  the  matter  and  if  so, whether any action has been initiated against guilty officials;

(e) whether the number of incidents of gas leakage and fire break out in underground natural  gas  pipelines,  refineries  and  oil  fields/wells  have  gone  up,  if  so,  the  details thereof along with the number of such incidents and the loss of revenue reported as a result thereof during each of the last three years and the current year; and

(f)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  avoid  pipeline  leakages  and  improve  the safety  of  the  pipeline  and  other  petroleum  and  natural  gas  infrastructure  in  the country?

## ANSWER

## पैोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंालय म मंी ( ी धम धान )

## MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) & (b) : There has been impact on the nearby areas because of the heat and noise generated from the blowout well of Baghjan field.  Approximately 3000 affected families were evacuated to rehabilitation camps set up  by the district Administration. M/s TERI  has  been  engaged  for Ambient  Air Quality (AAQ)  monitoring and Bioremediation,  CSIR  North  East  Institute  of  Science  and  Technology  (NEIST)  has been engaged for Seismological Study and IIT, Guwahati has been engaged for heat impact  through  Thermal  Imaging.  There  has  been  no  casualty  of  local  residents. However, Oil India Limited (OIL) has lost three employees.

District Administration has constituted a committee for assessment of property loss for which  OIL  has  to  deposit  the  compensation  amount  to  district  administration  for disbursal  to  the  affected  families.  So  far , 2,756  families  have  been  identified  for compensation  till  08.09.2020  in  Doomdooma  and  Tinsukia  Circle. ₹ 10,93,50,500/has  been  deposited  with  District  Administration by OIL  for  providing  one-time compensation of ₹ 30,000/-  each to the 3645 affected families.NGT has also directed payment of interim compensation:-

- a)  Category (i)   : Rs.  25.00  Lakhs  (whose  houses  have  been completely  gutted  by fire)
- b)  Category (ii)  : Rs. 10.00 Lakhs (whose houses have been severely damaged).
- c)   Category (iii) : Rs. 2.5 Lakhs (whose house have been moderately /partially damaged or   whose standing crops and horticulture have been partially damaged).

Under  category  (i),  compensation  amount  of  Rs.  25  lakh  each  for  12  families  was handed over to Deputy Commissioner's (DC) office for disbursaland57 houses under category  (ii)  and  561  houses  under  category  (iii)  have  also  been  identified  for compensation.

(c)  : OIL's  Safety  measures  include  Safety  Awareness,  Inspection  &  Audit,  Safe Operating  Procedures,  Safety  Trainings,  Emergency  Response  and  Mock  Drills, Employees Participation, Occupational Health Monitoring, Personal Protective Equipments,  Contractor  Personnel  Safety  Management,  regular  Safety  Meetings, Near  Miss  Reporting,  Accident/dangerous  occurrence  reporting,  investigation  and analysis, Monitoring Health Safety & Environment (HSE) and technological upgradation.

(d)  : Ministry  has  constituted  a  three  Member  Inquiry  Committee  to  inquire  into  this incident.    In  addition,  Inquiry  Committees  have  also  been  set  up  by  Directorate General of Mines & Safety (DGMS), and Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), Govt. of  India.  Two  officers  of  OIL  directly  looking  after  the  operations  of  the  well  before blowout have been suspended.

(e)  : Major  onsite  incidents  in  the  last  three  years  reported  to  Oil  Industry  Safety Directorate (OISD), are given below ::

| Sector            | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2020-21 (till Aug'20)   |
|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------------------|
| Pipelines         | Nil       | Nil       | Nil       | Nil                     |
| Refineries        | 06        | 10        | 07        | 01                      |
| Oil Fields/ Wells | 08        | 06        | 03        | 01                      |
| Total             | 14        | 16        | 10        | 02                      |

In  most  incidents  of  gas  leakages  in  any  pipeline,  the  oil  &  gas  wells  are  closed immediately  to  prevent  fire/loss  of  oil  and  gas  and  after  carrying  out  leakage rectification job, operations are normalized and production is restored.

(f) : Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas regularly monitors and reviews various safety measures in the oil & 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 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 & new installation being set up, before commissioning of the facilities. In order to prevent such accidents in future, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are also  being  re-visited  for  making  improvements,  if any.

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