Risk Assessment of Rooftop- Collected Rainwater for Individual Household and Community Use in Central Kerala, India

Water quality of rooftop-collected rainwater is an issue of increased interest particularly in developing countries where the collected water is used as a source of drinking water. Bacteriological and chemical parameters of 25 samples of rooftop-harvested rainwater stored in ferrocement tanks were analyzed in the study described in this article. Except for the pH and lower dissolved oxygen levels, all other physicochemical parameters were within World Health Organization guidelines. Bacteriological results revealed that the rooftop-harvested rainwater stored in tanks does not often meet the bacteriological quality standards prescribed for drinking water. Fifty percent of samples of harvested rainwater for rural and urban community use and 20% of the samples for individual household use showed the presence of E. coli. Fecal coliform/fecal streptococci ratios revealed nonhuman animal sources of fecal pollution. Risk assessment of bacterial isolates from the harvested rainwater showed high resistance to ampicillin, erythromycin, penicillin, and vancomycin. Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indexing of the isolates and elucidation of the resistance patterns revealed that 73% of the isolates exhibited MAR

Solid Waste Management: A Case Study of Arppukara Grama Panchayat Of Kottayam District, Kerala (India)

The rising pressure of Population, together with the constantly changing technologies, and development perspectives, contribute to the ever increasing volumes of wastes in different forms. The solid and liquid wastes generated in the urban areas were considered a burden to the society, and hazardous to the environment. The fact is that the growth of consumerist culture and aimless throwing of refuse by the people created the outbreak of environmental pollution. Unhygienic environment and solid waste accumulation coincided with mosquito breeding which causes, the spread of most epidemics. The rationale behind most of the diseases is the unhygienic pattern followed by the people both in rural and urban areas. As an environmental package, the disposal of solid waste from different sources, such as house holds markets, commercial areas, slaughter houses, hospitals and industries, therefore assumed crucial importance. So as a part of the theory and practice, a study on the area, solid waste management of Arppukara Grama Panchayat of Kottayam district is taken into consideration. The study conducted here proposes, to examine the quality and quantity of the solid waste generated in the panchayat and also it's impact on the existing social, economical, environmental and ecological systems

Customer perceptions of Banking Products and Services in Kerala with reference to Specific Customer Segments in the Urban Area

As of 1999. the state of Kerala has 3210 offices of scheduled commercial banks (SCBS). In all, there are 48 commercial banks operating in Kerala, which includes PSBs, OPBs, NPBS. FBs, and Gramin Banks. The urban areas give a complete picture of the competition in the present day banking scenario with the presence of all bank groups. Semi-urban areas of Kerala have 2196 and urban areas have 593 as on March 1995.“ The study focuses on the selected segments ofthe urban customers in Kerala which is capable of giving the finer aspects of variation in customer behaviour in the purchase of banking products and services. Considering the exhaustive nature of such an exercise, all the districts in the state have not been brought under the purview of the study. Instead. three districts with largest volume of business in terms of deposits, advances, and number of offices have been short listed as representative regions for a focused study. The study focuses on the retail customer segment and their perceptions on the various products or services offered to them. Non Resident Indians (NRIs), and Traders and Small—ScaIe Industries segments have also been included in the study with a view to obtain a comparative picture with respect to perception on customer satisfaction and service quality dimensions and bank choice behaviour. The research is hence confined to customer behaviour and the implications for possible strategies for segmentation within the retail segment customers