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Niko will wait till gas burns up

Tengratila fire intensifies, AL MPs visit spot

RAFIQ HASAN, Tengratila
While the raging fire in Tengratila gas field is burning gas worth crores of taka every day, causing environmental havoc and making the life of people in the surrounding areas miserable, the Canadian drilling company Niko authorities seem the least concerned about the matter.
They are now waiting for stoppage of gas supply to the newly drilled 466-metre deep well when the gas reserve in the pocket is burnt up, sources said.
Meanwhile, the fire at Tengratila yesterday rose up to 300 to 350 feet, after subsiding a little during last two or three days.
Hot sand and small stones were emitted from the gas field yesterday that spread to one square kilometre area, creating further panic among the locals.
Smoke from the fire also formed black cloud in the area.
Twelve days into the devastating blow-out, the company is yet to collect the rig necessary for digging a relief well beside the burning well.
The fire has now spread to the entire gas field including the well that had caught fire in last January and it may take weeks, even months
for the huge flame to come down, sources said, adding that from the fluctuating height and intensity of the fire due to the varying pressure of gas in the well, it is very difficult to guess when the fire will extinguish.
Drilling the gas field very near to human habitat also shows Niko's utter irresponsibility.
Now question has arisen about the company's capacity to dig gas well and protect human life and properties from accidents in gas fields.
Every day, hundreds of people from all sections of the society gather at the gate of Niko gas field demanding immediate stoppage of the fire.
"We want to see the end of this fire as early as possible," said Abdur Rahman, a member of local union parishad.
If the fire continues for some more days, people in the area will be ruined, he observed.
"I cannot sleep in the night because of the high sound and vibration from the flame," elderly Sadek Mian of nearby Grishnagar village said, adding, "The air in the
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entire area has become polluted because of smoke continuing for a long time."
Meanwhile, a five member Awami League (AL) parliamentary delegation led by deputy leader of the opposition advocate Abdul Hamid visited the Tengratila gas field yesterday.
"According to our primary observation, the gas field caught fire because of 'inefficiency' of the drilling company Niko," Abdul Hamid told journalists after observing the flame and talking to the Niko officials.
The AL parliamentary delegation demanded immediate stoppage of the fire and proper compensation to the victims. They also demanded disclosure of actual losses of gas caused by the gas field disaster.
"We can not accept that the valuable asset of the country would be burnt out in this way," Hamid said.
"Niko has prepared to dig a relief well only 100 metre from the burning well that may catch fire again. The relief well should be drilled at least 700 metre off the burning well," he added.
"We are doubtful whether there would remain any gas in the field
after the end of this fire," Dewan Farid Gazi MP, a member of the delegation said.
The delegation blamed the government for awarding contract to the inefficient Candian Company Niko in exchange of huge bribe.
The government yesterday distributed Tk 1.08 crore as compensation to 283 fire victims.
Meanwhile, the Tengratila Sangram Parisad yesterday declared a three-day action programme to realise their demands that include dousing the fire and compensating the actual victims.
The people in Sunamganj and Sylhet also brought out processions and demanded cancellation of the contract signed with the inefficient company Niko.
Niko will continue drilling the plant after the fire ends, a source related to Tengratila gas field told this correspondent, adding that Niko experts want to fence off half a kilometre area after evacuating the villagers and shifting the village market adjacent to the gas field.
The gas produced in the field will be supplied to the underconstruction Lafarge cement factory in Chhatak.