Microbial Biodiversity of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) dumpsites of Cochin, Kerala, India.

Cochin, the commercial and industrial centre of Kerala, lies on the south-west coast of Arabian sea. It covers an area of 94.88 Km2. There are two major dumpsites in the city, one at Brahmapuram and other at Kalamassery. The proper management of the waste has been a challenging task for the concerned authorities. One of the cost-effective combating ways is the use of microbes. A preliminary attempt was performed to quantify both the physicochemical and microbial characteristics of the dumpsite soils and evaluated by using standard techniques. The soil samples from the study sites showed higher values for bacterial and fungal counts than the control soils. Some of the isolated species belonged to the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Klebsiella. As the findings reveal that the dumping site soils have wide microbial diversity which can be exploited for sustainable and eco-friendly bioremediation approach.