Students of Jaffna University and members of several organizations launched a hunger strike on Tuesday demanding a satisfactory answer from authorities over the water contamination issue in Jaffna.

They started the hunger strike in front of Nallur Kovil after holding a protest march this morning. The protest march started at 9am from Jaffna Town, a student told Asian Mirror.

Northern Provincial Council appointed an expert committee to study the water contamination issue in Jaffna. The committee recently said that regional groundwater in and around Chunnakam, Jaffna, does not consist of any dangerous pollutants.

However, the protestors were skeptical of the findings of the committee. “We want to know what happened during the research conducted by the expert committee appointed to investigate the water contamination issue.” he said and added that people in Jaffna have the right to know whether the water in Jaffna peninsula is suitable for drinking.

The protesters demanded to change the current chairman of the expert committee. They also said that Governor of North and Government Agent of Jaffna must take over the collective responsibility of the issue.

They even asked the involvement of World’s Health Organization (WHO) in the matter.

(Photo Courtesy : Jaffna Today)