Tengratila Blowout
Police bar villagers from holding rally
Police yesterday barred villagers from holding a scheduled rally at Tengratila Bazar to press for compensation for the damages caused by the January 7 blowout during drilling of a gas well by Canadian company Niko.
The law enforcers from Doarabazar police station also prevented their attempt to hoist black flags atop houses, shops and other structures, sources said.
The peaceful agitation programmes were announced on Saturday by Tengratila Dabi Aday Sangram Parishad (committee to realise demands)
The programmes were taken up to protest what it called flouting of commitments made to affected people by Niko after the blowout in 2005 badly damaged croplands, greens and several public structures around the Tengratila gas field.
Several hundred people were also displaced due to the blowout that sent leaps of fire up to 300 feet in the spy.
Freedom fighter Azim Uddin Master, convener of the Sangram Parishad, said yesterday, “We wanted to press for our legitimate demands as the company did not fulfill its commitments for compensation in two years after the tragedy.
“We suspended the agitation programme following intervention by the district administration”, he said.
“We will see what the administration does and then resume agitation”, he said.
He said the Sangram Parishad demands compensation in line with the report made by the Directorate of Environment (DoE), which estimated Tk 84 crore damage to crops and the ecology. The company gave only Tk 1.84 crore as compensation, he said.
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