Poignant account of Baghjan reels

Tahin Oja Sharma, 42, a 42-year-old FTII-trained filmmaker who has lived in Mumbai for two decades, became curious when news of a fire at India’s longest oil well in her home state, Assam, hit the mainstream even before the country caught on. Started away from the media. Attention.

The gas leak at the Baghjan oil field in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district first made headlines on May 27, 2020. Within a fortnight, on June 9, an oil well exploded and caught fire. It took more than five months to kill it. To extinguish and extinguish the fire on November 15. Throughout, Tahin kept himself abreast of every news report and Google update and was shocked to see how videos of the Visakhapatnam gas leak that happened 20 days ago went viral, but Baghjan failed to create a stir.

Tahin says the incident happened when everyone was grappling with the fear of the COVID uncertainties ahead. As a result of the second COVID wave, she could not visit the site until about a few months ago. “I was getting restless about the lack of input on environmental degradation after the fire and how it affected local populations, flora, and fauna,” she says.

It was not difficult to imagine the circumstances of the affected Moran community from the region to the Tahin – the early inhabitants of Baghjan – and how the fire devoured their homes, livestock and livelihoods.

In line with her fears, when she first visited the village of Baghjan after a fire last winter, she was stunned by the massive destruction. “The once green and fertile land of arecanut and tea plantations, banana orchards and bamboo groves was now a deserted barren land. It was a horrifying sight, surrounded by burnt trees and brick houses covered with ashes; Dead fish and carcasses of domestic animals and pets float on water stained with smelly oil,” she recalls.

Farming, animal husbandry and fishing were the primary occupations of the people and the Tahin set out in search of them. “Everyone had fled. I found only 15 members of three families who had returned to their burnt houses and were living in makeshift shelters made of tin,” she says, adding that it is their voices who She wants people to listen and thus the documentary was born.

The serious health risks from toxic fumes, oil spills and all manner of contaminants are ignored by the authorities as returning residents have no choice but to face the aftermath. Tahin’s 34-minute documentary is soul-shaking as you hear helpless locals recount their trauma.

A shot from the documentary Bagjan Reels by Tahin Oja Sharma | photo credit: special arrangement

After witnessing a hell, they continue to suffer from anxiety apart from several physical health issues like damage to their ears and respiratory system. The fight for compensation and justice is another struggle for the 1,500 displaced families.

“It was difficult to persuade the villagers to talk to me as they feared exploitation. One of them questioned me, asking why I was trying to make money from their tragedy,” says Tahin.

According to Tahin, oil drilling without any respect for the environment and eco-sensitive areas has also changed the landscape of the Maguri-Motapung wetlands and Dibru-Saikhowa National Park on the banks of the Dibru River. Over a long period of time, these places have maintained local communities apart from 500 species of birds, 106 species of fish, 105 butterfly species, 680 types of plants and 40 mammals.

“The trail of destruction goes beyond lost crops and damaged homes. Grief is not just about statistics, it is about health and life,” says Tahin, who was shocked to see people consuming water that still smells and tastes bad, and even that are fishing in contaminated ponds to survive. “No one cares about this land anymore and there is no restoration process or rehabilitation plan for the people,” she says.

Tahin spent five days at the site and recorded 200 hours of footage. His documentary highlights a devastated village and the suffering of its people. The film has received good response in the international film circuit.

Tahin Oja Sharma, Director of the documentary Baghjan Reels | photo credit: special arrangement