#Baghjan 3,645 Families To Get Compensation: Petroleum Min

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday admitted to the major impact on the nearby areas of the heat and noise generated from the blowout well of the Baghjan field and 3,645 families have been identified for compensation.

In a written statement, the union minister submitted information on the Baghjan incident in Lok Sabha today.

According to the statement, "3000 affected families were evacuated to rehabilitation camps set up by the district administration," adding, "There has been no casualty of local residents however, Oil India Limited (OIL) has lost three employees".

The minister informed that the District Administration constituted a committee for assessment of property loss for which OIL has to deposit the compensation amount to district administration for disbursal to the affected families.

As of September 8, 2,756 families have been identified for compensation in Doomdooma and Tinsukia Circle.

"₹ 10,93,50,500/- has been deposited with District Administration by OIL for providing one-time compensation of ₹30,000/-  each to the 3645 affected families," Pradhan said.

Furthermore, the National Green Tribunal also directed payment of interim compensation from OIL which included categories of

1. Category (i)   :       Rs. 25.00 Lakhs (whose houses have been completely gutted by fire)
2. Category (ii)  :       Rs. 10.00 Lakhs (whose houses have been severely damaged).

3)   Category (iii) :       Rs. 2.5 Lakhs (whose house has been moderately /partially damaged or whose standing crops and horticulture have been partially damaged).

Under category (i), compensation amount of Rs. 25 lakh each for 12 families was handed over to Deputy Commissioner's (DC) office for disbursaland 57 houses under category (ii) and 561 houses under category (iii) have also been identified for compensation.

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has constituted a three Member Inquiry Committee to inquire into this incident.  In addition, Inquiry Committees have also been set up by the Directorate General of Mines & Safety (DGMS), and Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), Govt. of India, it said

So far, 40 onsite incidents from 2017 to 2020 have been reported to the OISD. OISD, a technical Directorate of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas formulates safety standards for the entire Oil & Gas Industry. The Directorate carries out regular safety audits to check and review whether the safety standards and norms are being followed by the industry.

"In order to prevent such accidents in future, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are also being re-visited for making improvements, if any," the statement added.