09/07/2026
Twenty-year-old Surendra Singh Choudhry, known online as Bittu Tabahi, has drawn widespread praise for taking it upon himself to clean the heavily polluted Ajnar River in Biaora, Madhya Pradesh.
The BSc student was troubled by the amount of plastic, bottles, algae and other garbage choking the river. Instead of waiting for authorities or a major cleanup effort, Bittu decided to start tackling the problem himself.
Using basic equipment and paying for supplies out of his own pocket, he began clearing the waste. Friends initially helped, but much of the work eventually fell to Bittu alone. Some sections reportedly took months of repeated cleaning to restore.
The effort also came at a personal cost. Bittu faced accusations that he was doing it for social media attention, while spending so much time in the contaminated water reportedly led to skin problems and other health issues. Still, he kept returning to continue the job.
Striking before-and-after photos of the river have since gone viral, bringing widespread recognition to Bittu’s determination and environmental work.
His efforts even caught the attention of industrialist Anand Mahindra, who pointed to Bittu as an example of how social media visibility can be transformed into meaningful action in the real world.
