Assam's Baghjan Mishap

The blowout incident at the Baghjan oilfield of the Oil India Limited (LTD) is saddening. This can well be considered as one of the worst industrial disasters which the country has witnessed in the recent times. In other words, this is the second such major leaking incident since 2005 – let alone several other similar incidents of oil and gas spill in the recent past.

- Dwaipayan Dasgupta

Notably, the Baghjan gas leak happening is literally a two-part story, but, depressingly, both incidents have been a bitter pill to swallow for the people, especially those who live in villages within two kms radius of the uncontrollable gas outflow site. To argue precisely, both the incidents have almost irreversibly damaged a lot of still-existing precious resources --cropland, water-bodies, a national park et al in its vicinity but have also taken heavy toll on the villagers’ livelihoods.