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Vector borne diseases are a threat to human health. Little attention has been paid to the prevention of these diseases. We attempted to identify the significant wetland characteristics associated with the spread of chikungunya, dengue fever and malaria in Kerala, a tropical region of South West India using multivariate analyses (hierarchical cluster analysis, factor analysis and multiple regression). High/medium turbid coastal lagoons and inland water-logged wetlands with aquatic vegetation have significant effect on the incidence of chikungunya while dengue influenced by high turbid coastal beaches and malaria by medium turbid coastal beaches. The high turbidity in water is due to the urban waste discharge namely sewage, sullage and garbage from the densely populated cities and towns. The large extent of wetland is low land area favours the occurrence of vector borne diseases. Hence the provision of pollution control measures at source including soil erosion control measures is vital. The identification of vulnerable zones favouring the vector borne diseases will help the authorities to control pollution especially from urban areas and prevent these vector borne diseases. Future research should cover land use cover changes, climatic factors, seasonal variations in weather and pollution factors favouring the occurrence of vector borne diseases.

The role of ions in a tropical river water (Neyyar, Kerala) was assessed. Rock weathering is the dominating mechanism controlling the major ion chemistry of Neyyar river. The dominance of Cl-HCO3-Na during monsoon indicates that geology plays a major role in controlling water chemistry. The presence of mineral varieties of quartz, feldspars, pyroxene, biotite, etc., in the Pre-Cambrian crystalline namely Khondalite and Charnockites, could be the source of major ions. The major ion chemistry of Neyyar river waters show that Na is the dominant cation with lower proportions of Mg and Ca, with HCO3 and Cl as the dominant anions. It belongs to the HCO3 group with significant amounts of Na and Cacations. The dominance of Cl-HCO3-Ca and Ca-HCO3-Cl during post monsoon and pre monsoon respectively indicates that besides geology, the land drainage and anthropogenic activities also control river water. The change in water type observed during monsoon from Na-Cl-HCO3 to Na-Ca-Cl-HCO3 almost from the middle portion may be attributed to anthropogenic pollution. Hence attention is to be paid to take the control measures to prevent the pollution in this stretch of the river.

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