INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume 1, No 6, 2011 © Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing Association Review article ISSN 0976 – 4402 Received on January, 2011 Published on March 2011 1079 Review on Bioremediation of Polluted Environment: A Management Tool Kumar.A 1 , Bisht.B.S 1 , Joshi.V.D 2 , Dhewa.T 3 1 Department of Zoology/Entomology, HNBGU (A Central University), Campus Badshahithaul Tehri249199 (UK) INDIA 2 Department of Zoology, Government PG College, Kotdwara Garhwal246149 (UK) 3 Department of Microbiology, Dolphin Institute of Biomedical and Natural Sciences Dehradun248007 (UK) INDIA asokumr@gmail.com ABSTRACT The term bioremediation has been introduced to describe the process of using biological agents to remove toxic waste from environment. Bioremediation is the most effective management tool to manage the polluted environment and recover contaminated soil. Bioremediation is an attractive and successful cleaning technique for polluted environment. Bioremediation has been used at a number of sites worldwide, including Europe, with varying degrees of success. Bioremediation, both in situ and ex situ have also enjoyed strong scientific growth, in part due to the increased use of natural attenuation, since most natural attenuation is due to biodegradation. Bioremediation and natural attenuation are also seen as a solution for emerging contaminant problems, e.g. endocrine disrupters, landfill stabilization, mixed waste biotreatment and biological carbon sequestration. Microbes are very helpful to remediate the contaminated environment. Number of microbes including aerobes, anaerobes and fungi are involved in bioremediation process. Keywords: Bioremediation, Biotechnology, Microbes, Carbon Squestration. 1. Introduction Intensification of agriculture and manufacturing industries has resulted in increased release of a wide range of xenobiotic compounds to the environment. Excess loading of hazardous waste has led to scarcity of clean water and disturbances of soil thus limiting crop production (Kamaludeen et al., 2003). Bioremediation uses biological agents, mainly microorganisms i.e. yeast, fungi or bacteria to clean up contaminated soil and water (Strong and Burgess, 2008). This technology relies on promoting the growth of specific microflora or microbial consortia that are indigenous to the contaminated sites that are able to perform desired activities (Agarwal, 1998). Establishment of such microbial consortia can be done in several ways e.g. by promoting growth through addition of nutrients, by adding terminal electron acceptor or by controlling moisture and temperature conditions (Hess et al., 1997; Agarwal, 1998; Smith et al., 1998). In bioremediation processes, microorganisms use the contaminants as nutrient or energy sources (Hess et al., 1997; Agarwal, 1998; Tang et al., 2007). The population explosion in the world has resulted in an increase in the area of polluted soil and water. As the number of people continues increasing day by day it also brings with it a growing pressure on our natural resources i.e. air, water and land resources. In order to outfit to the demands of the people, the rapid expansion of industries, food, health care, vehicles, etc. is necessary. But it is very difficult to maintain the quality of