YSRCP chief and opposition leader Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy lashed out against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and the TDP government in Andhra, and said that Naidu was answerable for the death of 16 tribal people in East Godavari district.

This came a day after 23 tribal people from Chaparai village, who were admitted to the Area Hospital in Rajamahendravaram on June 25, were discharged.

Around 32 people were rushed to the government hospital in Rampachodavaram and the primary health centre (PHC) at Maradumilli last week, after suspected food poisoning and other ailments.

This had followed the death of 16 tribal people last month.    

Jagan toured the Agency mandals in the district on Saturday, and interacted with several locals, about the troubles they faced. 

At Kadarikota, Jagan was quoted as saying, “He [Mr. Naidu] claims that he is hi-tech Chief Minister with latest technology on hand. But it took one month for him to come to know of the deaths.” 

He also reportedly alleged that there were only seven ambulances for 11 mandals.

On Friday, Naidu had expressed his grief over the deaths, and asked officials to take steps to prevent such incidents from recurring.

“It is unfortunate that ignorance of the people coupled with delay in extending government services on time led to the death of 16 persons,” he was quoted as saying.

An ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh had been announced by the CM for the victims of the tragedy.

Meanwhile, officials said that they had stepped up awareness campaigns and health drives, to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

They also dispatched a large stock of medicines to all hospitals and healthcare centres at the mandal and village level.