Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan meets Assam CM, discuses Baghjan incident

Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 14 (ANI): Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday met Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and discussed the fire incident that took place at Baghjan gas well of Oil India Limited on June 9.
During the meeting at the Sonowal's official residence at Brahmaputra State Guest House in Guwahati, both Chief Minister and the Union Minister decided to make a joint visit to the incident site to have ground understanding about the situation.
According to a press release from Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, the Chief Minister informing the Union Minister about the incident said that the State Government has been extending all needful support to OIL in its efforts to control the situation.
He said that Tinsukia district administration prior to the fire incident evacuated people from the nearby villages and they are being put up in relief camps. The Chief Minister further requested to take adequate measures for maximum compensation to the affected families.
Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna while briefing about the steps taken by the Assam Government informed that twelve relief camps have set up by district administration where altogether 7000 people are taking shelter. He said that district administration is presently carrying out an assessment to ascertain the extent of damage by the gas well fire incident.
During the meeting, both Chief Minister Sonowal and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan talked to senior OIL officials and Minister of Industry and Commerce of Assam Government Chandra Mohan Patowary who is presently camping at Tinsukia through video conference to have an understanding about the ground situation and the measures taken by OIL to cap the well.
The Union Minister during the interaction took stock of the support rendered by the State Government and stressed on working on a war footing to cap the well. He also assured that his ministry is closely monitoring the situation and assured that all necessary steps would be taken by the Government of India to provide succour to the affected families. (ANI)