Pradhan promises aid to Assam gas blowout victims

Pradhan reached Assam on Saturday to review the situation arising after a blowout and successive inferno that killed two persons. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal accompanied Pradhan to the disaster site and relief camps.

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said people affected in Oil India’s Baghjan gas well tragedy will be “adequately” compensated.

Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal and Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan addressing the media regarding Baghjan oil well fire tragedy, in Tinsukia on Sunday. (ANI)

Pradhan reached Assam on Saturday to review the situation arising after a blowout and successive inferno that killed two persons. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who accompanied Pradhan to the disaster site and relief camps , said a model and a veterinary hospital, a higher secondary school and a skill development centre will be set up in Baghjan. “Today I announce that the Baghajan embankment will be constructed at a cost of ₹27 crore,” he said.

“We will compensate all the affected people. Tea gardens, betel nut trees, fishes, houses and any other properties that have been damaged will be compensated in consultation with the Assam government,” Pradhan told people in a relief camp.

After visiting the well site, the Union minister said the Centre and the state are trying for a permanent solution. “Oil India is an Assamese company. It has been working here for many decades. We will punish the culprit for this disaster even if he is a powerful man,” Pradhan said.