The origin of oil and gas industry in India can be traced back to 1867 when oil was struck at Makum near Margherita in Assam. Since then the consumption and demand of different petroleum products has been increasing steadily. As the usage of these products has increased, it has also given rise to certain problems in the environment such as soil contamination, health risks to the habitual organisms etc. some petroleum products have been found to exert carcinogenic and neurotoxic effects. Though several mechanical and chemical methods are followed for the degradation of these products the rate of contamination is quite high and that makes these methods very expensive. In view of this situation bioremediation gives a better solution compared to the currently existing methods. It provides efficacy, safety on long term use, cost and simplicity of administration with promising opportunity for creating better environment.
Bioremediation, petroleum degradation, petroleum degrading bacteria, in-situ bioremediation, ex-situ bioremediation, biochemical analysis of degradation
