The present invention provides a seeding material for accurate and reproducible monitoring of BOD load of pulp and paper wastewater, wherein the bacteria are isolated from various locations in India and comprise Micrococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Kurthia zopfii, Alcaligenes faecalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the microbial composition being capable of exerting an appropriate BOD for pulp and paper industrial wastewater due to the specificity of bacterial strains present therein towards the refractory organic compounds found in these effluents.