APSC Answer Writing (Daily) based on Assam Tribune – 04/11/2026

Model answer

Introduction: On 3 November 2026, the Supreme Court sought replies from the Union Petroleum Ministry and the Assam government. The case is about Oil India Limited’s (OIL) plea to tap oil and gas beneath the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. OIL wants to use Extended Reach Drilling (ERD). Here, wells start from pads outside the park and bend sideways to reach deposits about 3,500 to 4,000 metres below it.

1. Importance of the hydrocarbon sector for the economy of Assam

• Historic base: Assam is where India’s oil industry began. The Digboi refinery, commissioned in 1901, is one of the oldest working refineries in the world.
• State revenue: OIL and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) pay royalty to the Assam government on the crude oil and gas they produce in the state. This royalty is an important source of the state’s own revenue.
• Industrial growth: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) is raising its capacity from 3 to 9 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA). A pipeline of about 1,635 km from Paradip in Odisha will feed it imported crude.
• Energy security: Domestic output cuts India’s dependence on imported oil. OIL’s counsel told the court that the area near Dibru-Saikhowa may hold about 3 per cent of India’s hydrocarbon reserves.

2. Challenges in balancing oil and gas extraction with the conservation of protected areas in Assam

• Legal uncertainty: The Supreme Court’s judgment of 26 April 2023 bars mining in national parks and sanctuaries and within 1 km of them. Citing it, the Forest Advisory Committee and the Environment Ministry refused OIL just 0.069 hectare of forest land in 2024. OIL argues that ERD is not mining.
• Accident risk: On 27 May 2020, OIL’s Baghjan-5 gas well suffered a blowout, and it caught fire on 9 June 2020. At least 2,000 people were evacuated. A dead Gangetic dolphin was found in the polluted Maguri-Motapung Beel nearby.
• A park already shrinking: Dibru-Saikhowa has lost more than 36 per cent of its 340 sq km area to river erosion. This has happened since it became a national park in 1999.
• Scattered approvals: A 2017 Supreme Court order and an environmental clearance of May 2020 allowed drilling beneath the park. Yet the use of forest land still needed separate approval. So different bodies pull in different directions.
• Pressure on other reserves: The National Board for Wildlife’s standing committee cleared exploratory drilling on about 4.5 hectares in the eco-sensitive zone of the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary. It barred oil and gas extraction inside that zone.
• Limits of the technology argument: ERD keeps rigs out of the park, but pads, roads and pipelines still sit at its edge. The eco-sensitive zone runs from zero to 8.7 km around parts of the park’s boundary. So ERD cuts surface damage but not the risk of leaks and blowouts at the edge.

3. Way Forward

• Clear rules: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change should issue guidelines that separate deep drilling below the surface from surface mining. An expert research report should back them.
• Strict conditions: Approvals should carry Hollongapar-type conditions, such as real-time digital surveillance and minimal tree felling. The Assam Forest Department should check them on site.
• Blowout readiness: OIL should keep well-control teams and equipment ready in Tinsukia. Independent safety audits of wells near protected areas can prevent another Baghjan.
• Money for the park: A fixed share of project funds should go to erosion control and habitat repair in Dibru-Saikhowa.
• Local voice: Fringe villages hit in 2020 should be consulted before drilling. They should also get local jobs and fast compensation.

Conclusion: Assam needs its oil, but its protected areas cannot be traded away one well at a time. On balance, ERD beneath Dibru-Saikhowa can be accepted only as a narrow, closely watched exception. The surface of the park must stay untouched, and any breach of conditions should stop the project.