The present invention relates to a bacterium strain of accession no. MTCC 5099, a process for the preparation of innoculum of the said strain, and a process for the reduction of color from pulp mill effluent using the above said innoculum, which comprises steps of inoculating appropriate aliquots of the pulp and paper mill effluent with the cell slurry obtained, incubating the mixture at about 37° C. at about 100 rpm for time duration ranging between 24-48 hours, assessing color and total lignin levels to determine the color removal efficiency of the above said bacterium