After spending three days and two cold nights atop a 5-storey-high water tank, nurses of the government hospital in the district headquarter town of Warangal called off their indefinite fast after officials agreed to consider their demands, including regularisation of services.
The nurses of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital resorted to this unusual venue for their protest after repeated petitions to various authorities drew blanks. Finally, they decided to resort to a hunger strike, borrowing the idea from Mahatma Gandhi, after whom the hospital is named.
A group of 10 nurses climbed to the top of the water tank that supplies drinking water to the hospital complex to start the protest. The other nurses camped around the water tank to prevent the police from reaching the steel stairs to the top. They also threatened to jump off and commit suicide if efforts were made to evict them from forcefully.
Officials said the nurses climbed down after an official promised that the government would consider their demands.