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In Ramanathapuram area, the fundamental hotspot for drinking and different purposes, for the most part, relies upon groundwater since the surface water is least and the stream water additionally not accessible during the storm season. The primary point of the work is to find the water quality index (WQI) in Ramanathapuram area by utilizing Geographical Information System (GIS). Around forty-six water specimens were gathered from the wells and examined to evaluate the groundwater quality in the investigation region. Water quality examinations of similar specimens were done for pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), fluoride (F−), Fe, ammonia (NH3), phosphate (PO), nitrate (NO3-), nitrite (NO2), alkalinity and chloride (Cl−). The water quality map for the study area was generated based on the results of forty-six observation wells. Based on the results, the study area is classified into five different categories as excellent, good, poor, very poor and water unsuitable for consumption. In this manner, continual checking of groundwater is important to save the groundwater in the future.

Selecting a suitable site for urban development in a city is one of the critical issues in urban planning. This study illustrates the use of geographic information system (GIS) and multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) techniques for the selection of suitable sites for urban development in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. Toposheet and CARTOSAT 1 satellite data were used to generate various thematic layers using ArcGIS software. Using these tools, several suitability factors including slope, soil, geology, road proximity, land use/land cover, depth to water table, distance from built-up area, geomorphology, and water quality map were evaluated. An analytical hierarchical process was used to rank the various suitability factors and the resulting weights were used to construct the suitability map layers. In doing so, the derived weights were used. Finally, a synthesised land suitability map was generated by combining these maps. The results of our research have been submitted to the regional authorities and will be used in strategic land-use planning.

Mill-scale wastes from steel industry have been successfully reduced to pure metallic iron via hydrogen and carbothermic reduction. Use of high temperature and H2 gas has been eliminated by a novel solution-based room temperature reduction technique whereby nanoscale iron powder is produced. This new scheme totally obviates the issue of sintering of the iron/iron oxide and hence the deactivation during the cyclic operation of metal-steam reforming. Some of the preliminary results of this investigation are discussed.