Biaora, September 6: A 20-year-old college student from Madhya Pradesh has attracted international attention after spending months cleaning a polluted river largely through his own efforts.Surendra Singh Choudhary, popularly known on social media as Bittu Tabahi, began cleaning stretches of the Ajnar River in Biaora, Rajgarh district, earlier this year.
Choudhary has been removing plastic waste, bottles, algae and other accumulated garbage from the river. He has also documented the cleanup process through photographs and videos, which he shared on social media.His efforts gained wider visibility after images showing the condition of the river before and after the cleanup circulated online.
The campaign subsequently caught the attention of Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of Netherlands-based environmental organisation The Ocean Cleanup. Slat responded to a social media post highlighting Choudhary’s work with an invitation to join his organisation.
The message generated considerable interest among social-media users, who viewed the development as a potentially significant opportunity for the young environmental volunteer.However, there has been no public confirmation so far regarding a formal appointment, job designation, salary or joining date.
Slat’s public response is therefore best understood as an invitation rather than a confirmed employment announcement.The Ocean Cleanup works to reduce plastic pollution in rivers and oceans, making Choudhary’s grassroots river-cleaning efforts relevant to its broader environmental mission.
Choudhary’s work had also earlier attracted the attention of industrialist Anand Mahindra, who publicly supported the young man after questions were raised about his use of social media to document the cleanup.
The incident has highlighted how individual initiatives, when amplified through digital platforms, can attract attention far beyond their local communities.
It also underlines the continuing challenge of river pollution in India, where several river stretches have been identified as polluted in assessments based on water-quality data.
For Choudhary, what began as a local effort to restore a polluted river has now developed into an opportunity to connect with a global environmental movement.
