After the gas blow out incident in Baghjan, Assam, state-run Oil India Limited (OIL), has been striving towards containing the leak and sealing the oil well permanently. During the blow out, there were reports of an earthquake-like tremor at the location. So, keeping that in mind the company is installing broadband seismographs at various radial distances from the well.
A seismographs or seismometer, is an instrument used to detect and record earthquakes.
OIL requested North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Jorhat to measure the occurrence or frequency of earthquakes in a region, if any. During the Assam gas well leak, the villagers in the region felt the tremor which damaged homes of the residents there.
A team from NEIST and OIL carried out a joint study to identify the location for installing broadband seismographs at various radial distances from the well.
At present, five broadband-enabled seismographs will be deployed by CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat at five recording sites for data to be recorded tentatively for 7-10 days, the company informed.
The joint team has identified the locations and preliminary civil work for deployment of the instruments is in progress. A team from TERI, Delhi is likely to arrive to measure and monitor noise and air quality, including LEL levels, stated OIL.
The company is working towards sealing the well too. It stated the testing job is completed for one of the two OIL CMT high-discharge water pumps of capacity 2500 GPM, to be used for well control operation.
Two OIL employees lost their lives — Tikheswar Gohain and Durlov Gogoi — in the gas leak incident and the subsequent fire. Recently, Sushil Chandra Mishra, CMD, OIL handed over cheque of Rs 30 lakh each to the wives of the deceased firefighters under the Company’s social security scheme at their residences in Duliajan and Namrup respectively.
Meanwhile, due to agitation, there was a production loss of 487 MT of Crude Oil and 0.45 MMSCM of Natural Gas for the company. The cumulative production loss since May 27, 2020 due to bandhs and blockades have been 5,386 MT Crude oil, 7.04 MMSCM of natural gas.
