Baghjan fire
File photo of the massive Baghjan fire.

Oil India Limited (OIL) has provided compensation of Rs 9 crore as immediate relief to the people who have been affected by the massive fire at Baghjan.

Resident chief executive of OIL on Thursday sent a letter to Tinsukia deputy commissioner Bhaskar Pegu regarding the compensation provided to the affected people of Baghjan.

Also read: Assam: Baghjan blowout enters 44th day, OIL fails to douse fire

In the letter, OIL has clearly mentioned about the one-time compensation given to the affected people.

Earlier, OIL transferred an amount of Rs 4.83 crore to 1,610 families who were affected due to the Baghjan blowout.

According to the letter, on July 4, an amount of Rs 4.17 crore was transferred to the accounts of Tinsukia district administration as immediate one-time compensation for the affected families.

Altogether, 1,390 families will get Rs 30,000 as immediate relief.

A total of 30,000 families have received the compensation till date.

The OIL in its letter said as decided in the meeting held on June 5, “we are keen to pay the compensation for the damage to property inclusive of houses, livestock, agriculture land etc. arrived at as per due to procedure”.

“At this stage, we would like to mention that due to intermittent protest by various organisation/ pressure groups our operations are affected resulting in an average production of around 8,200 MT per day against the potential to produce more than 9,500 MT per day,” the letter said.

Meanwhile, Baghjan Gaon Milanjyoti Sangha staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the Tinsukia deputy commissioner’s office seeking compensation of Rs 20 lakh for the affected families.

OIL issued appointment letters on Tuesday to the kin of the firefighters killed in Baghjan inferno on June 9.

Two firefighters – Tikheswar Gohain and Durlov Gogoi – were killed while fighting the Baghjan fire.

The bodies of the two firefighters, including an accomplished footballer, were recovered from a nearby pond by the NDRF rescue team on June 10.

The two eligible dependents, Pranab Jyoti Gohain, son of Tikheswar Gohain and Purabi Gogoi, wife of Durlov Gogoi, were handed over the appointment letters by the Oil India Limited.

Avik Chakraborty is Northeast Now Correspondent in Dibrugarh. He can be reached at: [email protected]