Sixteen-year-old Moromi has been staying at the Guijan High School in upper Assam’s Tinsukia district for the last one week, forced to leave her home along with her family-members and hundreds of her neighbours after an gas well caught fire in her village, Baghjan, on June 9.
The fire, which initially spread over several hundred metres around the site, has gutted several houses, trees and standing crops, forcing authorities to evacuate the villagers to the shelter at the school. The fire, though contained in the the oil well, continues to rage. Oil India Limited authorities say that it would take at least four weeks to douse the fire and control the leakage.
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Moromi is still numb after witnessing the conflagration engulf the area. “Seeing such a huge fire, the village was in shock. Panic-stricken, we rushed for safer places. I have never been in such a situation,” she tells Outlook over the phone. “Our house is safe but we lost two goats,” adds Moromi, whose father is a fisherman. Her immediate concern now is about the safety and viability of her father’s job. Moromi has read the portent well—she recalls seeing scores of fish die in nearby water bodies. “I don’t know what will happen to our family. I don’t even know when we will be able to go back,” she says dejectedly.
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More than 7,000 people have been displaced following the incident. Villagers started fleeing their houses after frequent tremors rocked the area following the fire. An expert who didn’t wished to be named said that the tremors are due to “pressure exerted by gas…sound waves from the fire which travels in the air in low frequencies. And they will continue till the fire is finally put out”.
Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said the government will bring in more experts from Australia, Canada and Singapore to douse the fire. Experts from Singapore, Canada and US are already engaged at the site.
The fire has also posed a threat to the rich biodiversity of the area. The Maguri-Motapung wetlands, a spot known for a variety of avian and aquatic species, is located within a kilometre to the south of the site. Dibru Saikhowa National Park, another biodiversity hotspot, is also located barely two kilometres away towards the north.
By Abdul Gani in Guwahati
