Gangtok, Sept. 27: The official toll of the earthquake in Sikkim has dropped to 60 from 77 after names that had appeared more than once on the casualty list were removed and those reported missing traced.

A search team also recovered the decomposed body of Subrata Ranjan Nath, a retired brigadier from Calcutta who was the chief project adviser to Abir Infrastructure Private Limited, which had been implementing the Teesta Urja 1200MW hydel power project in Chungthang.

The casualty list for the three districts — South (1), West (4) and East (14) — remains the same. The death toll has come down only in worst-hit North Sikkim. The figure there now is 41. Earlier, it was 58.

Sikkim police spokesperson, senior superintendent of police Prawin Gurung, said this evening that the death toll had come down to 60 from 77 yesterday. “The reason is that there were many persons reported missing in North Sikkim who had been recorded as dead. There was also duplication of names of those killed. Now rescue teams have reached all the spots and verified the missing and the dead. So the actual number of dead people is now 60,” he said.

The police spokesperson said four to five bodies could not be recovered as they were still under debris.

Nath’s body was found in Shipgyer in North Sikkim’s Dzongu. On September 18, the retired army brigadier was on his way to Shipgyer, opposite Chungthang valley, from nearby Toong when landslides struck his vehicle. Two other persons who were with him in the vehicle had managed to escape. Nath was from Calcutta, police said.

Arrangements are being made to transport his body to Mangan, the North district headquarters.

Clear skies after four days of inclement weather allowed the army to stretch their rescue and relief operations to the maximum level today. A dozen army choppers were pressed into service, dropping ration and officials and evacuating stranded civilians from remote areas of North Sikkim.

Army spokesperson Colonel Ravi Patil said 2,550kg of ration was dropped in six villages of the Dzongu area and 9,408kg of food packets and medical items in Chunthang, Lachen, Chatten and Lachung.

The North Sikkim highway from Mangan to Chunthang, a distance of 100km, is still blocked by landslides and inaccessible.

“We also dropped a six-member team consisting of scientists, geologists and structural engineers in Lachung to survey the damage there. Two doctors were also dropped at Lachen,” said Col Patil.

An eight-member central team consisting of officials from the ministries of home affairs, health and roads arrived in Gangtok today to assess the damage.

An SPG team also landed in Gangtok on a recce before the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is expected here on September 29.