ABSTRACT
Environmental pollution is a serious concern that has been raised by rapid industrialization, urbanization, which in turn are associated with the problem of massive waste generation. Thousands of small and large industrial facilities dump their untreated waste into open land spaces or into local water resources. According to CPCB statistics for 2019–2020, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu top the list of hazardous waste-generating industries, contributing a lot to landfillable waste in India annually. Hazardous industrial wastes contaminate ground and surface water, air, and soil through the dissemination of potentially toxic compounds. In addition to serious health issues like asthma, cancer, and gastrointestinal distress, ocean acidification and loss of biodiversity are other long-term effects of unplanned waste dumping. Metagenomic analysis has efficiently served as a valuable tool for the determination of microbial composition and pathogenic load in environmental sample, including those found in waste dumpsites. Bacterial phylum Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes were reported to be abundant in the metagenomes associated with solid wastes from the tannery, pulp, and paper industries. Several of them have been demonstrated to be effective in the biodegradation of hazardous pollutants. Therefore, our aim is to formulate a comprehensive work plan based on the results of the bioremediation process and public health monitoring.
