DIGBOI, June 9: The Oil India Limited (OIL) while stating the present status of the Baghjan blowout in a press release, said that during the clearing operations at the site, the well caught fire. “There is no casualty reported. A fire fighter from ONGC sustained minor injuries. Fire tenders are at the site controlling the spread of fire,” the release stated.While chalking out the plans with the Alert team in the morning five options were presented by Alert team which included ‘Capping Stack Guide Rail’ Mechanism and ‘Ignite Well’ options, ONGC & OIL teams had made considerable progress with the ‘Capping Stack Guide Rail’ Mechanism and it was decided to proceed with the same, the release said, adding the current situation, however, would be brought under control by the experts.Post the incident, emergency meetings are under way with the Alert team.
They have expressed that it is now a safe environment for working and are confident that the situation can be controlled and the well can be capped safely. “The situation demands arrangement of large quantities of water, installation of high dis- charge pumps and removal of debris. All the operations as per Alert will take about four weeks. Efforts will be made to reduce this time frame as much as possible,” the release added.