Three experts from Singapore on Monday joined the operation to plug the blowout in a natural gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in eastern Assam, which continued to spew gas even on the 12th day.
The team belonging to M/S Alert Disaster Control held a meeting with officials at the OIL headquarters at Duliajan before visiting the mishap site at Baghjan in Tinsukia district.
“The experts complimented the preparatory steps taken so far. They emphasised that safety of the local people living near the well as well as those carrying out the operation is of utmost importance,” said a statement issued by the OIL.
Nearly 6,000 people living near the gas well under Baghjan oilfield have been shifted to relief camps since it blowout on May 27. But local residents and environmentalists fear the adverse impact on the wetlands and Dibru Saikhowa National Park, situated near the mishap site.
The oil PSU on Sunday said they were planning to place a Blow Out Preventer on the gas wellhead, which was “very challenging.” “Both vertical and horizontal lift mechanism of the hydraulically driven mechanical transporter to be used for well control operation have been completed and tested. Arrangements for creating water umbrella for well control operation is in progress,” it said on Monday.
Environmental impact assessment study and bioremediation process are also in progress.