The New Year opens with a hooch tragedy claiming 17 lives at Porata Nagar Thanda in Mylavaram mandal in Krishna district on Sunday. The Telugu Desam Party Chief N Chandra Babu Naidu slammed the ruling party of the lapses in the excise department. He also said that on a New Year day it was unfortunate that such an incident had taken place while talking to journalists, last evening at Hyderabad. He said the government was neglecting poor and demanded an all party meet to discuss about the issue.

The hooch death toll so far is 17 people, including two women who consumed illicit liquor have died and three people battling for life. Meanwhile, the bereaved families, led by Telugu Desam party general secretary Varla Ramaiah and Krishna district president TDP president and MLA D Umamaheswara Rao are continuing their protest by ''placing the bodies of the deceased'' in front of the excise and prohibition office in Mylavaram.

Meanwhile the perturbed Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy instructed the Excise department to look into the issue. Excise and Prohibition Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana, while on visit to Porata Nagar Thanda in Mylavaram, has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the bereaved families.The Excise Minister, who visited the GGH in Mylavaram and consoled the bereaved families, accompanied by Secondary Education Minister K Parthasarathi, of Krishna district, also assured that a government job under Rajiv Yuva Kiranalu would be given to the eligible person in the bereaved family