Vol. 1, Issue 9, Part P (2015)

Abstract
At the core of the problems of solid waste management were the absence of adequate policies, enabling legislation, and an environmentally stimulated and enlightened public. Several factors have to be considered in site selection for waste disposal. Due to the involvement of different parameters, deciding upon a suitable location for waste disposal is very complicated, costly and time consuming. Geographic Information System (GIS) allows users to view, understand, question, interpret and visualize spatial and non-spatial data in many ways that reveals relationships, patterns and trends in the form of maps, reports and charts. The present study details about locating a suitable waste disposal site for Usilampatti municipality. Selecting a suitable disposal site should adhere to the government safety norms and ensure there is no risk involved to the people or the environment. Factor considered for site selections include natural physical characteristics as well as socioeconomic, ecological and land-use factors. Multi-criteria overlay analysis has been done for solid waste disposal site selection in this study. Geographical Information System (GIS) integrates Geographical, Geomophological and other parameters with population and other relevant data in selection of suitable disposal.