President Maithripala Sirisena permitted the payment of Rs 4.68 million as compensation for the 33 individuals who were injured in the Rathupaswala incident in August 2013.

Three people died in the incident on August 1, 2013, when the army opened fire at the protesters in Weliweriya town.

The people, residents of Rathupaswala, were demanding drinking water and were accusing a company of polluting their ground water resources.