By- Hridayananda Das
From the last few days we encountered the situation of Baghjan. Since the morning of 27 May, Natural Gas has been continuously flowing out of a gas well in Baghjan, Tinsukia, Assam.
Also Read: Assam: Massive fire breaks out at Baghjan gas well
As the authority is unable to control it, experts from Singapore firm are called to handle the situation. Meanwhile people from Surrounding villages have been evacuated, while a Variety of fish and an endangered Genetic Dolphin have died.
On the fourteenth day people of Baghjan Encounter a horrible situation when the gas well catches fire . Whole area was covered with Black thick Smoke and a huge fire has developed around the gas well.
Now the Big question is why does this happen?
According to the experts, it is not uncommon for a blowout to create fire since the gases released are highly Combustible and a small spark can put it on fire.
As we all know the fifth gas well of Baghjan is the most prolific reservoirs of OIL Which produces 80,000 standard Cubic meters per day of gas from the depth of 3,780 meters, but Now it is discharging at 90,000 standard Cubic meters per day at a pressure of 4,200 PSI, which is much higher than the normal 2,700 PSI. If you could imagine it could be equal to the pressure exerted by one million pressure cookers at once.
According to Geologist Siddharth Kumar Lahiri of Dibrugarh University there are many possible reasons behind blowout, ” from simple lack of attention, poor workmanship, bad maintenance, old age, sabotage to morpho-tectonic factors.”
In the Recent past we know two comparable blowouts have happened in Assam; one at OIL-owned oil well in Dikhom in Dibrugarh in 2005 and other at ONGC-owned oil well in Rudrasagar in the 1970s. The latter took three months to contain.
Now according to officials the blowout fire of Baghjan could be controlled within a short period of time.
Whatever it could be but there will be a large impact on the environment due to this blowout fire.
As we see dark smoke rises to the sky from the blowout fire it really damages our environment a lot. Oil and Gas fire release harmful substances into air- Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and lead. These can be transported over a large area before deposition in soil and cause severe short term Health effects for people and wildlife, especially people with pre existing respiratory problems. This blowout fire damages the gas well site which releases a range of dangerous substances. Groundwater contamination threatens agricultural land and the people rely on ground and surface water for irrigation, drinking and domestic purposes. If it happens for a long time it may lead to respiratory disorder, liver problem, kidney disorders and cancer.
As the gas well caught fire people around Baghjan area May also feel a small earthquake,which may be some hours longer . According to some villagers people are facing this earthquake from the next day of blowout fire, which lasts for Several hours and because of this the walls and window Glasses Start creaking.
According to geologist Dr. Pradip Saikia this earthquake may not be dangerous but people are afraid of this earthquake.
If this blowout fire will not control within a short period of time, these types of Earthquakes will continue around the Baghjan area, which may lead to damage to structures like buildings and houses.
As Malguri Motapung wetland and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is nearby the poisonous substance released from the well Is becoming a threat for the flora and fauna in these areas.
We hope for the better tomorrow.
What is discussed here has already been discussed in my Facebook page Called “Digital Bondhu” and also in my YouTube channel with the same name.
“Digital Bondhu” is a page related to science and technology where we discuss lots of scientific theory such as – Butterfly effect, Chaos theory, Theory of light, Archimedes Principle , Bernoulli’s theorem and so on.
I also discuss current situations like the ” Effect of environment due to Baghjan Blowout fire”, ” What is Plasma Therapy, How it works? ” etc. etc.
I also review smart gadgets like smartphones, smart TV, Smart watch and so on.
YouTube video Link:
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