Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has written to Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, seeking a more decisive and accelerated response from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in tackling the gas blowout at Well RDS-147 in the Rudrasagar field, located in Assam’s Sivasagar district.
“Conveyed our concerns regarding the Barichuk Gas Blowout incident to Union Minister Hardeep Puri. I have requested him to direct ONGC to step up well control efforts in mission mode so that the situation doesn’t aggravate further,” the Chief Minister stated in a post on social media platform X.
Sarma emphasized that while the state government is actively providing relief to those impacted, ONGC’s current efforts fall short of what is required to manage the emergency effectively. “The State Government is providing all necessary relief to the affected people at this hour, but a more proactive approach is needed from ONGC to mitigate this situation and restore normalcy,” he said.
The blowout, first observed on Friday with gas spurting from Well RDS-147, prompted ONGC to take operational control of the site by Saturday. Despite the intervention, pressure in the well remains high, and the situation is yet to be brought under control.
So far, around 330 families from the surrounding areas have been evacuated and are receiving assistance through relief camps and safety measures coordinated by the state administration. However, Sarma expressed concern that local residents perceive ONGC’s response as insufficient and lacking in urgency.
In his letter to the Union Minister, Sarma wrote, “While the district administration and state agencies are fully engaged on the ground, I am constrained to convey that the local perception is one of inadequate urgency and seriousness in ONGC’s response. Unlike previous incidents handled with a war-like footing, the current approach appears procedural and lacking in visibility.”
Sarma also highlighted the distress being experienced by the surrounding villages, noting that ongoing technical measures — such as water blanketing, high-volume mud pumping, and junk shots — have so far failed to contain the gas pressure. “The prolonged nature of the incident is causing considerable anxiety in nearby communities,” he added.
On June 16, the Chief Minister personally visited the affected areas and relief camps, assuring local residents that their concerns would be communicated to the central government. “I urge you to kindly direct ONGC to reinforce its technical and leadership presence on-site, adopt a more mission-mode approach, and step up engagement with the affected communities to restore confidence and bring the situation under control at the earliest,” Sarma wrote in his appeal to Minister Puri.
Union Minister Hardeep Puri has since reviewed the incident and confirmed that the gas flow has persisted for four days due to unusually high pressure in the well. He added that ONGC is deploying advanced methods such as “junk pumping” and is working closely with international experts to manage the crisis.
ONGC, a Maharatna public sector enterprise, is India’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas, contributing approximately 71% of the country’s domestic production. Crude oil extracted by ONGC serves as the base material for several downstream companies, including IOC, BPCL, and HPCL, as well as ONGC subsidiaries like MRPL and HPCL, to manufacture key petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, naphtha, and LPG.
