They are reluctant to return also due to lack of drinking water as tubewells are inoperative.

Niko Resources (Bangladesh) Ltd, which is blamed for the blowouts, recently requested 95 families, whose houses were identified as 'risky' after the blowouts, to resettle at their houses. It declared these houses 'danger free'.

But only five families have so far returned to their houses.

The Canadian company however advised five families not to resettle now as spewing of gas at their houses was still at a danger level.

The families who have returned are also feeling frustrated as no water can be pumped out from tubewells, all their trees died and they cannot grow vegetables at their homesteads due to non-availability of water, locals told a group of journalists who visited the area on Tuesday.

"What shall we do when we return to our houses...How can we be sure that spewing of gas that still continues will stop shortly, and it will not increase," said one of the displaced people, now living at a relative's house.

Two blowouts -- one in January and the other in June last year-- during Niko's drilling dried up trees and crops and baked soil in about a square kilometre area on the north of the gas field in Tengratila, also known as Chhatak marginal gas field.

Environmentalists demonstrated immediately after the blowouts and a committee of the environment ministry later demanded Tk 84 crore in compensation from the Canadian company, which has repeatedly declined to make the payment saying the estimate does not have sound basis.

Immediately after the blowouts, groundwater started coming out of local tubewells automatically but no water can be pumped out now.

Faizur Rahman, who is still staying at his father-in-law's house away from the gas field, said the displaced people are worried if they can grow any crop on their land.

A displaced Rehana Begum, 35, staying with her relatives who have come back to their houses following Niko's request, said most of the tubewells installed by Niko cannot draw water.

In the wake of scarcity of drinking water, Niko installed more than 30 tubewells in the affected area but only a few are operative.

Asked if Niko plans to address the water crisis, its Country Manager Brian Adolph said, "We can try installing a deep tubewell and storing water in a tank for use by people of this area."

On the continued spewing of gas, he said this will vanish in a few days, and Niko's safety team is monitoring the situation. "We are now very conscious because if anything happens, you (journalists) will rush here."

Deputy Commissioner of Sunamganj Jafar Siddique however said many of the displaced families are reluctant to return to their houses as each family now gets Tk 10,000 a month in compensation from Niko and that will stop when they resettle. But some families have problems like scarcity of water, he added.