Bhubaneswar: Refuting allegations that poor people in the KBK region died of gastroenteritis by consuming mango kernel and other uneatable stuff in recent months, the Odisha government on Monday claimed that Rs 2 a kg rice scheme was doing well in the area. Allegations that the people are deprived of cheap rice in KBK region, is incorrect. The scheme is doing very well across the state, chief minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters here. Reacting to the Opposition Congress allegations on cholera and diarrhoea deaths in the tribal dominated areas, Patnaik said that the state government had taken adequate steps to contain spread of water borne diseases in the southern region. While 25 medical teams were working in cholera-hit Rayagada district, 30 more doctors and 40 para-medical staff would rush to the area soon, he said, adding the health minister and health secretary would visit Rayagada soon. A Congress team led by its working president Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, however, claimed that poor people had fallen ill by consuming mango kernel and other uneatable stuff in Kashipur block of Rayagada due to non-availability of cheap rice. A large number of people in Kashipur showed us dry mango kernel being consumed by them. In the absence of safe drinking water, people get infection by consuming water from spring and ditches, he alleged. Claiming that 45 people have succumbed to diarrhoea and cholera in Kashipur alone, Mohapatra said over 100 people died in Rayagada. The situation is totally out of control in Rayagada where people are dying without medicines, water and food since last three months, he said. Describing the situation in KBK region as the worst, the OPCC working president said while gastroenteritis had taken epidemic form, the state Government was yet to respond to it. He also alleged that the people in Rayagada district were deprived of jobs under NREG. However, panchayati raj minister Prafulla Samal claimed that NREG was being properly implemented in the state.