Moulvibazar Correspondent :
The 19th anniversary of Magurchhara Day will be observed today (Tuesday).
On this day of June 14, 1997, a massive explosion took place at Magurchhara Gas Field located in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district while a US energy company Occidental was drilling a well.
The explosion triggered a huge blaze that damaged property worth crores of taka. Occidental was widely blamed for the devastation but compensation for the damage is yet to be realised.
During a recent visit to Magurchhara area by this correspondent, the affected people expressed their dissatisfaction over the role of national political leaders as well as the government in the failure to realise compensation for the damage. They wanted to know the mystery behind the long silence of the leaders and the government regarding settlement of compensation claims.
Louwachhara Reserve Forest,
adjacent to the exploded gas well, was massively damaged. A shegun timber garden, established in the years 1944 to 1950, a bamboo garden, established in the years 1993 to 1995, and a strip of plantation, which was established in 1994 were also extensively damaged by the fire.
About 96 acres of Louwachhara forest were completely burnt. Fifty per cent of forest
resources on 111.15 acres of land and 30 per cent resources on 106.21 acres of the reserve forest were damaged. A variety of organisms and animals which use the forest as a safe habitat were also extensively harmed. Experts said the loss is irrecoverable. Since the fire, wild animals from the forest now come out into human habitats in search of food.
The previous AL government formed a committee with the erstwhile additional secretary to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as its chief to assess the loss of resources due to the explosion. The committee submitted a report to the secretary of the ministry on July 30, 1997.
Later, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry formed another investigation committee comprising three lawmakers. Besides, the forest Department also conducted a survey on June 16 and 17, 1997.
According to the reports of these committees, the damage done to the forest resources amounted to Tk 9,858 crore. Besides, 29 tea gardens of the area suffered a loss of about Tk 46.07 crore.
The railway department suffered a loss of Tk 21 crore, Jalalabad Gas Company Tk 13 lakh due to the damage to its pipeline, while the electricity department suffered a loss of about TK 1.35 crore. The Khasia community suffered a loss of Tk 18 lakh in damage done to their betel leaf plantations.
The reports said the damage done to the ecology will be impossible to recover within the next 50 years.
The local people of Kamalganj are, however, yet to receive any compensation, while Occidental has already made a safe exit from Magurchhara.
After the accident, another US company Unocal took over the operations of Magurchhara gas field and later yet another US company Chevron bought out Unocol. Now the onus is on Chevron for disbursing the claimed compensations.
According to Chevron, Moulvibazar gas field at Magurchhara has been operating safely since its re-inception in March 2005. The company drilled through sand twice where the accident had taken place in 1997. One well is currently producing natural gas. A top ranking official of Chevron in Dhaka told this corresondent that they had conducted a third party survey several years ago to asses the impact on environment. A settlement offer of Tk 6 crore was made to the Ministry of Environment based on the assessment to settle the matter, he claimed.
He claimed that Chevron had already paid all substantial claims of compensation for the June 1997 explosion. But the local people as well as the local press are not informed about this claim of Chevron.
Mabubur Rahman, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) of Sylhet told this correspondent that he knew nothing about the assessed loss in Louwachhara Reserve Forest following the gas well explosion and about realisation of compensation from Occidental or Chevron. The DFO said the file is now at the ministry.
The 19th anniversary of Magurchhara Day will be observed today (Tuesday).
On this day of June 14, 1997, a massive explosion took place at Magurchhara Gas Field located in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district while a US energy company Occidental was drilling a well.
The explosion triggered a huge blaze that damaged property worth crores of taka. Occidental was widely blamed for the devastation but compensation for the damage is yet to be realised.
During a recent visit to Magurchhara area by this correspondent, the affected people expressed their dissatisfaction over the role of national political leaders as well as the government in the failure to realise compensation for the damage. They wanted to know the mystery behind the long silence of the leaders and the government regarding settlement of compensation claims.
Louwachhara Reserve Forest,
adjacent to the exploded gas well, was massively damaged. A shegun timber garden, established in the years 1944 to 1950, a bamboo garden, established in the years 1993 to 1995, and a strip of plantation, which was established in 1994 were also extensively damaged by the fire.
About 96 acres of Louwachhara forest were completely burnt. Fifty per cent of forest
resources on 111.15 acres of land and 30 per cent resources on 106.21 acres of the reserve forest were damaged. A variety of organisms and animals which use the forest as a safe habitat were also extensively harmed. Experts said the loss is irrecoverable. Since the fire, wild animals from the forest now come out into human habitats in search of food.
The previous AL government formed a committee with the erstwhile additional secretary to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as its chief to assess the loss of resources due to the explosion. The committee submitted a report to the secretary of the ministry on July 30, 1997.
Later, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry formed another investigation committee comprising three lawmakers. Besides, the forest Department also conducted a survey on June 16 and 17, 1997.
According to the reports of these committees, the damage done to the forest resources amounted to Tk 9,858 crore. Besides, 29 tea gardens of the area suffered a loss of about Tk 46.07 crore.
The railway department suffered a loss of Tk 21 crore, Jalalabad Gas Company Tk 13 lakh due to the damage to its pipeline, while the electricity department suffered a loss of about TK 1.35 crore. The Khasia community suffered a loss of Tk 18 lakh in damage done to their betel leaf plantations.
The reports said the damage done to the ecology will be impossible to recover within the next 50 years.
The local people of Kamalganj are, however, yet to receive any compensation, while Occidental has already made a safe exit from Magurchhara.
After the accident, another US company Unocal took over the operations of Magurchhara gas field and later yet another US company Chevron bought out Unocol. Now the onus is on Chevron for disbursing the claimed compensations.
According to Chevron, Moulvibazar gas field at Magurchhara has been operating safely since its re-inception in March 2005. The company drilled through sand twice where the accident had taken place in 1997. One well is currently producing natural gas. A top ranking official of Chevron in Dhaka told this corresondent that they had conducted a third party survey several years ago to asses the impact on environment. A settlement offer of Tk 6 crore was made to the Ministry of Environment based on the assessment to settle the matter, he claimed.
He claimed that Chevron had already paid all substantial claims of compensation for the June 1997 explosion. But the local people as well as the local press are not informed about this claim of Chevron.
Mabubur Rahman, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) of Sylhet told this correspondent that he knew nothing about the assessed loss in Louwachhara Reserve Forest following the gas well explosion and about realisation of compensation from Occidental or Chevron. The DFO said the file is now at the ministry.
