Fire broke out in an oil well of the PSU Oil India Ltd at Dikom in Dibrugarh district of Upper Assam this afternoon, two days after it developed a leak. Firefighters from Oil India and ONGC were unable to put out the flames till late evening. There is no report of casualties. An Oil India spokesman at the site told The Indian Express that the well caught fire after a huge explosion around noon, forcing the inhabitants of the tea garden where it is located to flee. The oil well (Well No Dikom-15) had developed leaks on Tuesday, with crude oil spilling over a large area. Oil India engineers were struggling to plug the leak today when it exploded, sending flames shooting to more than 40 feet. Firefighters from Oil India’s headquarters at Duliajan, about 30 km from the spot, were on standby since Tuesday; reinforcements arrived from ONGC’s Sibsagar and Nazira centres. A crisis management team of ONGC was also flown in from Dehra Dun later in the afternoon. Though Oil India authorities are yet to assess the loss that had occurred due to the spill and fire, a company spokesman said the well was producing about 70 kilolitres of crude oil per day. ‘‘Dikom-15 being a high pressure well, it might take some time to bring the fire under control,’’ the spokesman said. The same well had developed snags about three years ago, resulting in a major leak. It was, however, brought under control without much difficulty that time. Today’s fire, however, has not affected Oil India’s crude oil supply to any of the refineries of the state, the spokesman added. The leakage from the well resulted in spilling of crude oil in the nearby Dikom tea estate and paddy fields with over 2,000 labourers of the tea garden evacuated yesterday.
