A 20-year-old college student from Biaora town in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district has attracted the attention of people in the country after embarking on an extraordinary mission to clean the heavily polluted Ajnar river with his own hands.
The young environmentalist, Surendra Singh Choudhary, a BSc student who has gained popularity on social media under the name “Bittu Tabahi,” felt obliged to act after seeing the poor condition of the river. His efforts have now been recognized by industrialist Anand Mahindra, actor Chitrangada Singh, and several social media influencers.
Young student takes matters into his own hands
The Ajnar River has been plagued for years with plastic waste, garbage, algae and other pollutants. Rather than wait for the authorities to do something, Surendra jumped into the river and started cleaning it himself.
The student had proposed to run a machine at the beginning of his campaign in order to make the cleaning easier. But he had no resources. He went into the polluted water and washed away plastic, garbage and other waste from the river.
His efforts did not stop at simply clearing the rubbish. Surendra also started collecting discarded religious and puja materials from the river and working towards converting the organic waste into compost.
He spent around ₹30,000 on equipment and garbage bins to help with the cleanliness campaign and make the effort more organized.
Faced health risks but refused to give up
Cleaning a polluted water body manually was far from easy. Surendra developed infections on his hands and legs after coming into prolonged contact with contaminated water. He had to be worried about snakes as well while working in and around the river.
But he continued the work for months
Surendra was also criticized on social media. When he started showing videos of his cleaning work, some said he was doing it for the sake of making money; others, though, took it at face value and questioned why he should do it.
But the criticism did not deter him. Surendra continued to work towards that goal and eventually transformed sections of the polluted river.
He later shared photos of the cleaned water body on social media and illustrated the stark difference created by his efforts.
Anand Mahindra and others praise his initiative
Surendra’s work soon gained online traction. Industrialist Anand Mahindra was amongst those who praised the young student’s environmental initiative. Actress Chitrangada Singh and several digital creators also praised him.
The story has opened a larger conversation about environmental responsibility and civic participation. Social media users have noted that a young person could make a visible difference simply by choosing to act.
At the same time, others have raised an important question: Why should a 20-year-old student have to enter a polluted river and clean it with his bare hands in the first place?
Several users have called upon local authorities to establish permanent waste-management systems around the river, deploy appropriate machinery, and prevent garbage and religious waste from entering the water body again.
Surendra’s story is thus much more than a story about cleaning a river. It shows the power of individual initiative and also highlights the need for better civic systems and long-term environmental management.
His efforts serve as a reminder that protecting natural resources is not a province of government and civic bodies alone. Individual citizens are also key players for sustainable change. Yet sustainable change will have to come from the government, communities, and citizens as well to prevent rivers like the Ajnar from coming back to their polluted state.
