The Ooze

These photographs were taken at the oil refinery museum at Digboi, Assam. The museum is located on the venue of a previously sprawling oil well, now abandoned and converted into a museum, housing all the machinery and parts used at that time along with some vintage photographs and a touch of history.

This 19th century site is an important site, historically and otherwise as the oldest running oil well in the world. In fact the place is so rich in crude oil that it still naturally oozes out of the ground in the premises of the museum.

The only lament is that why should such an important heritage site lie in such a state of slick and filth. The greasy road and the pools of oil are a complete disgust in the face of an otherwise well maintained museum. The worst part is that Assam gets a bout of torrential rains, which makes the floor a disastrous mixture of gooey oil floating on moist ground, making it more slippery than ever. The factors that these are hilly areas add up to the danger quotient, if not considering the environmental impact that we all know too well about.

The models were noteworthy and well maintained with each having their own tin roof and some informative lines on their usage and precedents. It would've been worth spending more time, had it not been for the fact that you practically had to jump over puddles of water, mud and oil, with a great risk that you'd slip and fall right in the middle of it all.

The place is surrounded by villages and cattle roam freely. Even otherwise, it's a photographer's paradise with undisturbed vegetation, unexplored forests and jungles. You might even get lucky and spot an occasional cheetah or a panther. The refinery was actually built in the midst of pristine pure forests, so there is no dearth of wildlife or indigenous vegetation, wide varieties of orchids, plants, fruits, birds. It's simply heaven and the most self sufficient that any place could ever be. Under these circumstances, health and environmental concerns should have been taken seriously and the Assam Oil Corporation could have taken some steps to clean up and maintain the area, since they're exploiting the most of it.