Nazira, July 15 -- Nearly three weeks after the capping of the gas blowout at Bhatiapar under Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)'s Rudrasagar oilfield, spillage of crude oil from ONGC pipelines has severely affected hundreds of 'bigha's of agricultural land, livestock and fish habitat in the Mechagarh area of Assam's Sivasagar district.

ONGC's crude oil-bearing pipelines running through Mechagarh reportedly burst in at least three places recently, bringing misery to local farmers, exposing domestic animals to unknown diseases, and afflicting different types of fish found in the area.

This being the growing season, locals are concerned that they are not going to have a good harvest as crude oil has continued to spread to their paddy ...