India, July 10 -- The state forest department has allowed a branch of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) to carry out a 3D seismic survey for hydrocarbon exploration over an area of 15,212.8 hectares of forest land in Dhule and Nandurbar districts of northern Maharashtra.

The ONGC's Dehradun based Geophysical Services and Frontier Basins will drill 4,754 holes, 32 per square km, with a 2.95 inch diameter, and will study the earth's surface and search for deposits of hydrocarbons like petrol and natural gas by creating and recording seismic waves.

The order, issued on Wednesday by an undersecretary of the forest department, Ganesh Jadhao, says that the legal status of the forest land will not be changed. The order adds that before...