Digboi
Digboi | |
|---|---|
town | |
| Nickname: The Oil Town | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Assam |
| District | Tinsukia |
| Elevation | 165 m (541 ft) |
| Population (2001) | |
• Total | 20,405 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Assamese |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 786171 |
Digboi (Template:Lang-as) is a town and a town area committee in Tinsukia district in the north-eastern part of the state of Assam, India
Crude oil was discovered here in late 19th century. Digboi is known as the Oil City of Assam where the first oil well in Asia was drilled. The first refinery was started here as early as 1901. Digboi has the oldest oil well in operation. [1]. With a significant number of British professionals working for Assam Oil Company until the decade following independence of India, Digboi had a well developed infrastructure and a number of bungalows unique to the town. It has eighteen holes golf course as part of the Digboi Club. It has guest houses and tourist residential apartments laid on Italian architectural plan to promote tourism in upper Assam.
Etymology
“‘Dig boy, dig’, shouted the Canadian engineer, Mr W L Lake, at his men as they watched elephants emerging out of the dense forest with oil stains on their feet”.[2]
This is possibly the most distilled – though fanciful – version of the legend explaining the siting and naming of Digboi. Two events separated by seven years have become fused, but although neither is likely to be provable, such evidence that does exist appears sufficiently detailed to be credible.
Various web sites offer variations on the elephant’s foot story, a consensus of which would be that engineers extending the Dibru-Sadiya railway line to Ledo for the Assam Railways and Trading Company (AR&TC) in 1882 were using elephants for haulage and noticed that the mud on one pachyderm’s feet smelled of oil. Retracing the trail of footprints, they found oil seeping to the surface. One of the engineers, the Englishman (not Canadian) William Lake (aka "Willie Leova" Lake), was an ‘oil enthusiast’ and persuaded the company to drill a well.
Oil India Ltd makes no reference to elephants’ feet in its company history,[3] although on its previous web site the company noted that Lake had noticed “the oil seepages around Borbhil”. Once the project had been approved, Lake assembled equipment, boilers, and local labour, and engaged elephants to haul the machinery to the site. The first well was started in September 1889, but an encouraging first strike at 178 feet (54 m) turned out to be a small pocket, and drilling recommenced. This continued until November 1890 when the well was completed at a total depth of 662 feet (202 m), and it was during this extended period of drilling that Oil India's old web site placed the legend of Lake exhorting one or more of his labourers to “Dig, boy!”
Digboi as an oil town
It is said that the town gets its name from the phrase "dig-boy-dig," which is what the English told the labourers as they dug for crude oil. The town's history begins in 1867 when a small group of men from the Assam Railway and Trading Co. found their elephants' legs soaked in black mud, that smelt somewhat like oil. The men began exploring more, and in 1889, the English started a small oil installation. India (and Asia) obtained its first refinery in Digboi in the year 1901. Assam Oil Company was formed in 1899 to look after the running of the oil business in this area. The Digboi oil field produced close to 7,000 barrels per day (1,100 m3/d) of crude oil at its peak, which was during World War II. The field was pushed to produce the maximum amount of oil with little regard to reservoir management; as a result, production started to drop almost immediately after the war. The current production from the Digboi fields is about 240 barrels per day (38 m3/d). Over 1,000 wells have been drilled at Digboi – the first well in 1889 had stuck oil at 178 feet (54 m). In 1989, the Department of Posts, India came out with a stamp commemorating 100 years of the Digboi fields.
Today, though the crude production is not high, Digboi has the distinction of being India's oldest continuously producing oilfield. Digboi refinery, now a division of Indian Oil Corporation, had a capacity of about 0.65 MMTPA as of 2003. The Digboi refinery is the world's oldest oil refinery still in operation.
Digboi is now Headquarter of Assam Oil Division of Indian Oil Corporation Limited. The Earliest recorded to the existence of oil in India is found in the memories and dispatches of the Army Officers who penetrated the jungles of Upper Assam since 1825. Lt. R. Wilcox, Major A. White, Capt. Francis Jenkins, Capt. P.S. Hanney—they all saw at different times petroleum exuding from banks of the Dihing River. Mr. C.A. Bruce (1828) and Mr. H.B. Medicott (1865) of the Geological Survey of India also saw oil while prospecting for coal in Upper Assam.
Mr. Goodenough of McKillop, Stewart & Co. Calcutta was the first in India to start a systematic programme of drilling for oil in November 1886, at Nahorpung about 30 miles (48 km) south east of Dibgoi, just seven years after the world's first commercial oil well was drilled in 1859, by Col Willam Drake in Pennsylvania, USA. This hand dug well—the first oil well in India—was drilled up to 102 feet (31 m) and proved dry. However the second well struck oil at Makum near Tinsukia, about 14 miles (23 km) from Digboi.
In 1939, there was a major labour union strike in the Refinery. The Gandhi Movement of Congress for Indian Independence struggle; backed by labour rights and equality status was headed by Amar Singh Marwah.The break of the World War II coincided with the Digboi labour strike resulted in harsh steps taken by the British Administrative offices to crush the strike. The Viceroy and the Governor had intervened to bring a settlement adopting sturdy steps were take to crush the union by shooting down of the president of the labour union to be followed by issuing orders of Quit Digboi, Quit Lakhimpur and finally Quit Assam to the leaders of the labour union.
Digboi Refinery
The Digboi Refinery modernization project was taken up in large scale in order to overcome the technological obsolescence of the old refinery. Subsequently a number of other major projects were undertaken by Assam Oil Division to further revamp and modernise Digboi Refinery.Digboi refinery has been awarded the ISO-14001 and OHSMC certificate.
Geography
Digboi is located at 27°23′N 95°38′E / 27.38°N 95.63°E.[4] It has an average elevation of 165 metres (541 ft).It is situated 510 KM north east of Guwahati.
Demographics
As of 2001[update] India census,[5] Digboi had a population of 20,405. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Digboi has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85% and, female literacy is 77%. In Digboi, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Digboi Oil Town was considered as a separate census town in 2001 India census.[5] As of 2001 India census, Digboi Oil Town had a population of 16,584. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Digboi Oil Town has an average literacy rate of 82%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 84% and, female literacy is 79%. In Digboi Oil Town, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Culture & economy
Digboi has always retained a British-influenced culture years into independence. Club going, golfing, swimming and tennis were lifestyles of most Digboites since a long time back. Indian Oil Company (then known as Assam Oil Company) runs its oil refinery in Digboi - "the oldest refinery in Asia". Oil is third-largest industry of Assam contributing to the state economy trailing behind tea and timber. Dibrugarh Airport is the nearest Airport connecting to this oil town.
Places of interest
Digboi Golf Club has an 18-hole golf course. Digboi Centenary Museum shows the history of this town.
Education and research
Digboi has the following colleges:
- Digboi College, Digboi
- Digboi Woman's College, Digboi
- R.D. Junior College, Digboi
- Vivekananda Academy, Golai-3,Digboi
- Balika Vidya Mandir, Digboi
- Carmel School, Digboi
- Delhi Public School (DPS), Digboi
- Oil Valley School (OVS), Bogapani, Digboi
- The Little Stars Senior Secondary School, Digboi
- Vivekananda Vidyalaya, Missionpara, Digboi
Museums
THE DIGBOI CENTENARY MUSEUM
Tell the Story It was in the late 19th century that history was made with the birth of oil in a remote corner of Assam in the midst of the deep, dense jungles by a group of intrepid pioneers. However, it began with ‘Wood’ from the jungles of Assam which was the first attraction; which led to the knowledge about the region that it was faultlessly matched to cultivate tea; coal was discovered simultaneously and much needed in the tea factories. The Assam railway & Trading Company strategically planned to lay the railway lines in the upper Assam region for easy transportation of coal. Italian engineers commissioned by the Assam Railways and trading Company to build a railway line from Dibrugarh to Margherita used elephants to haul heavy rails and also to wade through the dense jungles. During this project, it was observed that the elephants returned with glistening oil drops on their feet; thus the liquid Gold was accidentally discovered at Digboi around 10 miles from Margherita.
Though the earliest recorded reference to the existence of oil in India is found in the memoirs and dispatches of the Army officers who traveled in Upper Assam as early as in 1825, it was only in 1866 that Mr Goodenough of Mckillop, Stewart & Co., Calcutta started the first systematic programme of drilling for oil in India in November 1866, at Nahorpung about 30 miles south east of Digboi. It was a hand-dug well was drilled up to 102 feet and proved dry. This was just seven years after the World’s First commercial oil well was drilled by Col William Drake in Pennsylvania, USA.
Subsequently several attempts were made and finally in September 1889, in Digboi, the first commercially viable well in India was successfully drilled. It was christened as the Well No. 1 or the Discovery Well and it set the scene of birth of the Oil industry in India. The Digboi Refinery was built and commissioned with the First Still in December 1901. The emergence of Kerosene in the markets in January 1902 announced the very first organized petroleum market in India.
Once Upon a Time…
Standing close to the historic Discovery Well no.1 at Digboi , in close proximity to the vintage oil producing field of 1001 wells, the Digboi Centenary Museum is the first of its kind in India. Established in the centenary year of Digboi Refinery, it provides tourists, students, researchers, historians and all with a dekko of history of oil, beginning in the dense rain forests of Digboi in the late 19th Century. The museum depicts the development of the modern oil industry in India with exhibits, artefacts, rare and amazing photographs, memorabilia, precious letters, tableaux, archived materials, historic machinery, vignettes of World War II touching Digboi and various period knick-knacks. The museum offers an absorbing mixture of entertainment and education for all age groups and indeed one has to visit the museum to be transported in time and re-live the years of hardship experienced by those magnificent oil men.
As the visitors to the museum walk inside, they encounter the giant diorama depicting a life size elephant set amidst a tropical jungle scene, for it was the sight of oil drops on elephant’s feet that set the ball rolling for the search of oil by the British pioneers in true spirit.
More than a Hundred Years Unrolled....
The walled panels on the upper floor of the museum present an insight into the past and present of the petroleum industry in Digboi with visually dynamic graphics interspersed with exhibits of machinery, equipment, models of plants and rare relics of an earlier period.
The history of Assam Oil from its foggy past to its present state, the first steps to build the edifice of a modern refinery, the adventurism of oil production, refinery & marketing, the joys and traumas, glimpses of British Sahab and the Indian bearer in the office scene, a peep into the cultural life of people of another era– all rolled out in a fascinating, seamless journey through time.
Parallel to the growth of the oil industry, a flourishing township grew alongside -developed and built in their own inimitable style by the British owners, complete with European style bungalows, clubs, golf course and a distinctive life style. The exhibits of family, social and recreational and cultural life displayed in the museum tell their own story as to how life was in the days gone by.
Oil Pioneers and the Global Scene
The panels with facts and visuals on the ground floor tell the story of how oil industry was born in the wilds of Pennsylvania, USA, and elsewhere; the pioneering and entrepreneurial spirits of George Bissel, “Colonel” Edwin Drake, Rockefeller, D’Arcy, Cargill et al -the rush for the black gold and the scramble for money and power.
The ground floor of the main museum hall also contains the items from collection of machinery of the workshop, refinery, power stations, oil fields and the marketing installations. The fascinating displays from the administrative, welfare and labour offices of the Assam Oil Company bring back the nostalgia of the days gone by.
A PHOTOGRAPH TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS…
A superb ambience to soak up the past oil story, one needs to step in to the photo gallery hall, where several rare old photographs of the past are displayed with immaculate care. The visitor sails through 100 years of history of the petroleum industry of Digboi and of the nation, narrated by these historic photographs.
Stepping outside the main museum hall, the the display is a variety of vintage equipment and machinery of the refinery. All systematically laid out in pagoda style kiosks, the machines have their own fascinating stories to tell in the first person, the display is set against stunning lush green hillocks, silhouetted by the old abandoned oil derricks adjacent to the ancient Digboi Oil field of 1001 wells. And the red flare of the present day refinery towers above the exciting stage. Displayed with the gigantic 450 bhp single cylinder steam engine of Borsig, Germany, and other sturdy machines of the past, is a replica of the retail outlet of the B.O.C. days complete, a British couple as customers, with a period car and other paraphernalia of a petrol station of that era.
A TRIBUTE TO THE MAGNIFICIENT OIL MEN The Digboi Centenary Museum is a tribute to the magnificient oil men of Digboi, all of whom have contributed immensely to keep this place alive for over 100 years – a tremendous achievement by any standards. It is a great favourite amongst visitors, who come from various parts of India and abroad.
The Museum was inaugurated by Shri Ram Naik, Naik the then Union Minister of P&NG, on 4th January 2002 and opened for the public on 1st March 2002. Mr Ram Naik also termed Digboi as the “Gangotri of the Hydrocarbon sector in India”.
The creation of this ‘abode of India’s oil heritage’ was the brainchild of Mr A N Das Executive Director of Assam Oil Division. Having completed ten years of story telling, the museum is now due for a value addition and up-gradation. Educative, informative, intriguing and exciting…the Digboi Centenary Museum and its tour leaves one with memories that could linger on for a lifetime.
Precursor of Petroleum Refining - “The Still”
In the early stages of petroleum refining, crude oil was distilled in ‘Stills’, which were mounted on structures very similar to the benches of a gallery and fired from underneath. This arrangement enabled the oil to flow from one still to the next one, placed on the step below. It is the lower portion of one of the huge cast iron pans - ‘stills’ – used to treat crude oil in 1890s. Its diameter is nine feet and the depth is four feet.
Recovered from the Digboi Oilfield, the ‘Still’ is exhibited just inside the Digboi Refinery.
Non-government organisations
Digboi Kali Mandir Santan Sangha, Digboi Assam Celebrated fifty (50) years of service to the human mankind in the year 2011 http://www.kalimandirsantansangha.org/
Politics
Digboi is part of Dibrugarh (Lok Sabha constituency) which is represented by Mr Paban Singh Ghatowar Of Indian National Congress. Earlier Mr Sarbananda Sonowal was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Dibrugarh (Lok Sabha constituency). Until January 2011 he was a member of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) but later he joined Bharatiya Janata Party.[6]
See also
References
- ^ Assam Govt website
- ^ “Digboi, 100, still alive and kicking”, Santanu Sanyal, The Hindu Business Line, 17th December 2001, retrieved online April 2008
- ^ "Heritage", retrieved online September 2009
- ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Digboi
- ^ a b Template:GR
- ^ "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Assam. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
