Operations at the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation offices and facilities continued normally on Thursday.

"Normal operations are going on at all work centres of ONGC. Repair work on the sub-sea crude pipeline, which had developed a minor leakage on August 10, is progressing on schedule," ONGC said in a media release.

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However, in a telephonic interview, L K Mirchandani, president Association of Scientific and Technical Officers, said: "ONGC's operations have been affected by our non-cooperation. We will continue and intensify our movement from Friday and other centres will soon follow."

Mirchandani clarified that the ONGC management had brought an injunction from the Bombay High Court despite "no strike notice having been served to the ONGC management" and claimed that ONGC chairman Subir Raha had not discussed any issues with his association.

But the central working committee of the ASTO accused the association's Mumbai unit of falling victim to narrow mindedness and trying to settle scores with Raha, the CWC president and the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

The rift within the ASTO was quite visible with ASTO's general secretary K C Hari Kumar pointing out in a media release: "To any impartial observer it's well evident that the role of the leadership visible at Mumbai is quite unnatural -- an attempt at cheap bargaining that has relegated the issue of safety to the background with 25 bodies and the wreckage lying in (the) sea."

It further appealed to the ONGC employees to be vigilant "against becoming emotionally blackmailed by an errant leadership pursuing its selfish agenda at the cost of the community, organisation and country."

Meanwhile, the wreckage of the helicopter which had crashed in the Neelam field was lifted out at 1.15 am on Wednesday. Twenty-two bodies have been recovered and brought ashore for the last rites.

R M Murthy, an ONGC officer and the helicopter's co-pilot, D K Mittal, are still missing and search operations are continuing, the ONGC media statement said.