Villagers staged a protest against the dumping of clinical waste at a private land at Ariyalai in Jaffna, forcing authorities to start disposing of the dump.
Correspondents report that a sizeable amount of the waste has now been taken away.
The land was given on long-term lease around 10 years ago for the construction of an eye hospital as an affiliate of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
Blocking the Jaffna-Kandy main road for around three hours on 11 April, protestors demanded they be ensured an environment free of any health risks.
Residents nearby got to know about the place being used as a dump for clinical waste when it started emitting a bad smell after it was set on fire.
Upon searching the place, they found syringes, needles, saline tubes, bloodstained clothing and other clinical waste dumped there.
Attempts by the police to disperse the protestors failed, as they continued to agitate until hospital director T. Satyamurthi came to the scene and promised to remove the dump.
