B.K. Mishra

Knowledge and Practices of Municipal Solid Waste Workers: Findings from Focused Group Discussions

Solid waste workers are exposed to substantial levels of physical, chemical and biological toxins from the point waste is generated and collected to the point it is disposed. They are at risk of developing allergic diseases, respiratory infections, musculoskeletal disorders, gastrointestinal infections and injuries due to work-related accidents. The high exposure statistics highlight the nether prevention methods, under utilization of preventive measures such as using personal protective measures, lack of education and training. The workers can be protected from work hazards and prevented from various diseases and conditions by employing safety procedures and ensuring effective and adequate use of personal protective measures. There is a huge gap between knowledge and practices of safe handling of municipal solid waste among workers in India. With this background, a qualitative study was conducted to understand the knowledge and practices of municipal solid waste handlers in Bangalore city. The study highlighted fair good knowledge about waste segregation and different types of waste but a few lacked knowledge about sanitary waste. Almost all the workers were provided with safety gears but a very few used them as they were not comfortable. Most of the workers suffered from common ailments but utilized private healthcare facility and ended up spending high for health care. Workers lacked the facilities like drinking water, toilets and restrooms. Findings of the study have been employed to design a survey for the entire solid waste workers of Bangalore and to develop occupational health and safety manual and behaviour change interventions.

Biochemical characteristics and microbial association of Isabgol (Plantago ovata Forks.) growing soils in Western Arid region of India

Isabgol (Plantago ovata Forks.) is one of the important cash crops in arid and semi-arid regions of India. The husk of Isabgol seeds are primarily used as laxative in medicinal preparations. The cultivation of Isabgol crop is very much dependent on soils and weather conditions as this crop is highly susceptible to many biotic and abiotic stress parameters. Soil microbial population is involved in many direct and indirect interactions with crop plants. The type of microbes present in the soils also affects the plant health. Soil samples from the rhizospheric zone of the plants were collected from Barmer, Jalore and Ajmer Districts of Rajasthan State in western arid region of India. The soil EC and pH (1:2.5) recorded were in the range of 0.12 to 0.46 dS/m and 7.4 to 8.9, respectively, depicting neutral to alkaline soils, the macro nutrient viz; N, P, K were found to be in the range of 128.0 to 192.54, 19.4 to 80.4 and 149.8 to 338.8 kg/ha, respectively. The DTPA extractable micronutrients Cu, Zn, Mn and Fe were in the range of 0.29 to 3.50, 0.26 to 1.5, 0.51 to 4.51 and 1.0 to 5.38 ppm, respectively, in the soil samples of Isabgol growing regions of Rajasthan. Total viable count (TVC) gives a quantitative idea about the presence of microorganism such as bacteria and fungi in samples. The total bacterial count of soil microorganisms varied from 0.8x107 to 1.96x107 cfu/g whereas, total fungal count varied from 1.52x106 to 2.85x106 cfu/g. Beneficial microorganism population in terms of total Azotobacter count (0.1x105 to 1.0 x105 ) psuedomonads counts (3.33x105 to 5.8x105 cfu/g) and phosphate solubilizing bacterial count (0.1x103 to 1.0x103 cfu/g) varied highly in different soils. Key words: Isabgol (Plantago ovata Forks.), bacterial count, fungal count, N, P, K, macronutrients, micronutrients.