India
oi-Swastika Sruti
For several months now, 20-year-old Surendra Singh Chaudhary, who is commonly known as “Bittu Tabahi” on social media, has been cleaning the dirty Ajnar river of Madhya Pradesh by disposing of the plastic, bottles, algae, and other kinds of garbage.
20-year-old Surendra Singh Chaudhary, known as Bittu Tabahi, has spent months cleaning Madhya Pradesh’s Ajnar River of garbage since January 26, personally funding the effort with around ₹30,000. His initiative gained viral attention and praise from Anand Mahindra and Kevin Pietersen, despite personal health issues and initial mockery.
It all started as an individual effort of Bittu on Republic Day, January 26, but has evolved into a viral social media movement that has drawn commendations from industrialist Anand Mahindra and former England cricket player Kevin Pietersen.
However, the path hasn’t been easy for Bittu. People made fun of him and said he was “crazy”. He even had health issues due to constantly entering the filthy water.
A man single-handedly cleans an entire river in his village.
A 20-year-old student in India is going viral for cleaning a polluted river by himself. Bittu Tabahi has removed plastic and trash from the water, spending his own money on supplies despite getting infections on his… pic.twitter.com/YIiYMOVj7z
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) September 3, 2026
Why Did Bittu Start Cleaning the Ajnar River?
According to Bittu, who is a second-year BSc student hailing from Biaora, Rajgarh district, the state of the river had annoyed him for quite some time.
“Every time when I went to the temple or saw the river, I noticed the pollution there. I had this idea for some time, but kept putting it off.”
But the idea did not stop there. “I started doing this work on 26th January and have been continuing it since then,” said Bittu to Times of India.
Initially, he got the support of some of his friends, but that gradually came down and Bittu was left to do most of the job himself.
Influencer By Day, River Cleaner By Choice
Known online as Bittu_Tabahi, this Madhya Pradesh creator has been documenting a very different kind of project: cleaning a garbage-choked stretch of the Ajnar River, largely on his own.
No speeches. No big campaign. Just one person… pic.twitter.com/ujDwdcpeS6
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) September 3, 2026
He Kept Going Into the Polluted Water
Bittu did not limit his effort to cleaning the riverbank.
He repeatedly entered the polluted water to remove plastic, bottles, algae and other waste that had accumulated in the river.
According to his accounts, he initially did not have proper protective equipment. He also did not know how to swim when he first started entering the water.
The work eventually began affecting his health.
Bittu Tabahi honoured by Madhya Pradesh CM Dr. Mohan Yadav for his inspiring efforts to clean the Ajna River and raise awareness about protecting water bodies 🌊🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/DLhU7i1Z6y
— Manoj Agrawal 🇮🇳 (@Manoj_Indore) September 5, 2026
His Hands and Feet Developed Infections
Bittu’s determination came with a physical cost.
He told The Times of India that he developed an infection in his foot, which has left him with a slight problem.
In an earlier conversation with The Indian Express, he also spoke about the effects of spending long periods in polluted water, saying the skin on his hands and feet had started peeling.
Despite these problems, he continued returning to the river.
His family later became concerned about his safety and asked him not to enter the polluted water alone.
His Family Initially Had No Idea
Interestingly, Bittu’s family was initially unaware of the extent of his river-cleaning work.
They came to know about it only after industrialist Anand Mahindra shared Bittu’s story on X.
After learning what he had been doing, his family expressed concern about his health and safety.
Bittu said they warned him that repeatedly entering the polluted river could affect his health and asked him not to do it alone.
Bittu Spent Around ₹30,000 on the Clean-Up
The river-cleaning campaign has also been funded largely through Bittu’s own efforts.
According to reports, Bittu and his friends contributed money to purchase basic equipment and dustbins.
The total expenditure has been reported at around ₹30,000.
Bittu said he personally installed several dustbins around the river and did not receive funding for them.
This means the initiative began not as a government programme or a large environmental project, but as the personal effort of a college student who wanted to change the condition of a river near his home.
‘I Don’t Know Why People Throw Garbage in the River’
For Bittu, cleaning the river is only one part of the problem.
He has repeatedly questioned why people continue to throw garbage into the water.
“I don’t know why people throw garbage in the river,” he told The Times of India, pointing out that people can simply put their waste in dustbins instead.
He has therefore tried to make disposal easier by installing dustbins around the river.
He has also worked with religious offerings collected from the river and reportedly converted the material into compost rather than allowing it to remain in the water.
What Does the Ajnar River Look Like Now?
After months of work, Bittu says the section of the Ajnar River where he has been working is now “very clean.”
His before-and-after videos have become a major part of the campaign.
The videos show the difference between the heavily polluted stretches he encountered initially and the areas he says he has cleaned.
However, Bittu does not consider the work finished.
He now wants to take the initiative to a much larger level.
From Local Student to Viral Internet Sensation
Bittu’s story received a major boost when Anand Mahindra shared his work online.
Mahindra called him his “Monday Motivation” and highlighted the young student’s decision to physically clean a polluted river.
Mahindra also made a broader point about social media, suggesting that even if attention or likes motivate someone to carry out meaningful work, that attention can still have a positive impact.
The post brought Bittu’s work to a much wider audience.
Kevin Pietersen Praises Bittu
Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen also recently praised the young environmentalist. Sharing pictures of Bittu and his clean-up work, Pietersen described his efforts as heroic and said they deserved international recognition.
The praise from well-known personalities has transformed Bittu’s story from a small local initiative into a widely discussed environmental effort.
People Once Called Him ‘Crazy’
The sudden attention is very different from the reaction Bittu received when he first began cleaning the river.
He has said that some people mocked him and called him “crazy.”
According to Bittu, some even asked him to clean their drains after seeing him working in the river.
Instead of giving up, he continued returning to the Ajnar.
His persistence eventually changed how many people viewed his work.
Bittu Responds to ‘AI-Generated’ Video Claims
His growing popularity has also brought criticism.
Some social media users questioned whether the dramatic before-and-after transformation shown in his videos was genuine and suggested that artificial intelligence might have been used to create the images.
Bittu responded to the claims in an Instagram video.
He said that he had spent around two-and-a-half months working on the river and urged people to look at the amount of garbage that had been present before the clean-up.
He also explained that heavy dirt and accumulated material had required the use of a JCB machine during part of the cleaning process.
His message was direct: the transformation was the result of his physical effort, not AI.
‘I Have Done This Work With My Hard Work’
Responding to those questioning his videos, Bittu said he had done the work through his own effort.
He challenged viewers to judge the transformation themselves by comparing the condition of the river before and after the clean-up.
For Bittu, the argument is not really about social media or viral videos. His main concern remains the condition of the river and the behaviour of people who continue to pollute it.
Bittu is still a 20-year-old BSc student, but he already has plans to expand his environmental work.
He told The Times of India that he wants to take the initiative to a “bigger level.”
He does not yet have a formal organisation or a fixed name for his next project. For now, his goal is simply to expand the work beyond the Ajnar River.
