DC seeks week’s time to resolve Baghjan compensation issue

GUWAHATI: The Tinsukia district administration has sought a week’s time to resolve the issue of compensation to be provided to families affected by the Baghjan blowout and fire.

A meeting between the district administration and the protesting members of the Baghjan Gaon Yuba Milanjyoti Sangha was held in Tinsukia on Saturday, wherein the deputy commissioner sought seven days’ time to sort the issue.

“Subsequently, the blockade was lifted from the road connecting Baghjan with Tinsukia and Doomdooma. However, the blockade on the road to Baghjan EPS (early production system) has not been lifted,” Satyajit Moran, president of the Baghjan Gaon Yuba Milanjyoti Sangha, told The Shillong Times on Saturday.

The Sangha has been staging an indefinite road blockade since Thursday in protest against the delay in payment of compensation to the affected families. Members of the organisation had set up a makeshift camp on the middle of the road connecting Baghjan EPS.

Oil India Limited (OIL) had written a letter on Friday, requesting the protesting members of the Sangha to lift the blockade at Baghjan EPS (early production system) as workers engaged in shifts at the blowout well (Baghjan well number five) were facing immense difficulty, unable to move in and out of the site.

“Our workers have been engaged at Baghjan well number five for many days without any rest. So, we want to change the shift with new workers, which is necessary. We want your kind cooperation to help us in this regard,” OIL resident chief executive Dilip Kumar Das wrote in the letter to the Sangha.

Recently, OIL had successfully diverted the gas flow to four locations, comprising two flare pits and another two at the Baghjan EPS after a series of failed attempts.