The people, who were affected by the Baghjan fire in Tinsukia district, have been continuing their protest for the last 21 days, seeking compensation.
The people have been protesting in front of the Tinsukia deputy commissioner’s office.
They have built a makeshift camp to raise their voice.
Talking to Northeast Now, Satyajit Moran, president of Baghjan Gaon Milanjyoti Yuba Sangha said, “We are protesting for the last 21 days but the Tinsukia district administration is yet to fulfil our demand.”
“On September 11, we had a meeting with the OIL (Oil India Limited) and Tinsukia DC at the DC conference hall where we clearly said if our demands are not met within five days then we would intensify our movement by launching serious agitational programmes,” said Moran.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Oil India Limited (OIL) in their second attempt successfully diverted the gas, which is spewing from the Baghjan no 5 oil well to Early Production Unit (EPS) and the flare pit.
The diversion of gas was crucial to reduce the surface level pressure of the Baghjan well before the final well killing attempt can be carried out.
As per the plan, a certain amount of gas was diverted to the Baghjan EPS (Early Production System) situated 4-km away, through two pipelines while the excessive gas was diverted to two nearby excavated flare pits also through pipelines.
The Baghjan blowout, which has turned out to be far more disastrous than the 2005 Dikom well blowout, has already claimed three lives.
On June 9, two OIL firefighters – Tikheswar Gohain (55) and Durlov Gogoi (35) – were killed after the Baghjan well caught fire, 14 days after the May 27 blowout.
On September 9, an electrical engineer of Oil India Limited, Arnab Kishor Bordoloi (25), died while working at the Baghjan blowout well site. The young engineer was testing an electrical cable when the mishap took place.
After multiple failures in capping the well, state industries and commerce minister Chandra Mohan Patowary recently stated that two more months might be required to completely douse the fire.