No compensation even after 22 years of Magurchhara tragedy
Today is the 22nd anniversary of possibly the first real man-made disaster affecting the environment to occur in Bangladesh, as a consequence of contracts signed between the government and the powerful set international oil companies, or IOCs.
On 14 June 1997 a destructive gas well blowout event occurred close to midnight at the Magurchhara gas field in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar.
US oil company Occidental was drilling the well at the time. Later, the company sold its interests in Bangladesh to Unocal, which in time merged with Chevron.
Although an investigation report into the incident blamed the irresponsibility, negligence, and mistakes of those operating the well for the tragedy, neither Occidental nor the IOCs has ever provided any compensation for the explosion.
From then, various organisations have been observing 14 June every year through different programmes.
The area affected by the explosion included reserved forest, part of the Akhaura-Sylhet railway, Fulbari tea garden, part of the Kamalganj- Sreemangal highway, Magurchhara Khasia punji and the main power line of PDB.
Besides, 28 tea gardens of the area were affected in the heavy shake. Trees, environment, and above all the biodiversity over an area of nearly 700 hectares of nearby forest area were severely damaged.
Besides, around 200 billion cubic feet of gas was wasted whose market value stood at 500 million USD.
The total loss caused by the explosion has been estimated between Tk 90 billion and Tk 140 billion. But no pragmatic step has been taken yet to collect the compensation from the perpetrators.
A probe body, led by a senior official of power, energy and mineral resources ministry was formed which submitted their 500-page report on 30 July of the same year.
Later, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the power, energy and mineral resources ministry formed a three-member sub-committee to find out the extent of damages, collect the compensation and distribute it.
The probe body told the sub-committee that the accident happened due to the failure of Occidental to perform their duties as planned. The investigators pointed out 15 to 16 errors of the company.
Although the officials of Occidental objected about two or three errors, they acknowledged the others and signed the investigation report.
But without paying the compensation, the company left the country after handing over the responsibility of the gas field to another US company Unocal. The second company later handed over their interest to US company Chevron and left Bangladesh.
However, the total loss in the forest area has been counted over Tk 98.58 billion. Additionally 2,000 feet railway track was damaged which cost over Tk 8.1 million. Furthermore, Tk 210 million for road and Tk 1.3 million for gas pipeline were reported as loss.
Meanwhile, local organisations, including environmentalists, have been protesting for a long time demanding compensation.
Several organisations are set to observe the day through discussion programmes, human chain and various other programmes on Friday.
Hill Protection and Development Society's Kamalganj upazila unit president Monayem Khan said that they have a plan to stage a human chain from Kamalganj upazila complex to Magurchhara area.