Officials have claimed an oil well in India has finally been extinguished, nearly six months after it started.

The fire in Assam, Northern India, was the result of an explosion in an oil field which killed two company employees in June.

There were complications in extinguishing the fire as huge amounts of gas began to come out of the well.

The blaze forced thousands of locals to flee the area, and many are yet to return due to the damage caused to their property.

Protests against oil field owner

A criminal investigation is now underway to determine the cause of the blowout. as well as the handling of the incident in the weeks after the explosion.

Protests against OIL are still held in the region but rarely evoke political outrage. Social media, though, has been abuzz with photographs and videos of the raging fire at the Baghjan oil well. The fire has caused massive loss to environment and wildlife besides causing huge losses to property in the nearby habitation, causing many more people to be displaced from their homes.

A committee set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has reported that the Baghjan oil well and 26 others were being operated illegally in Assam. The NGT is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice AK Goel.

The body had set up a committee under former judge BP Katakey to look into Baghjan fire incident. The Katakey committee has found that these oil wells did not have mandatory environmental clearance.

The final report of the NGT committee is likely next month