Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh: At a time when pollution is still a big issue across India, a 21-year-old B.Sc student from Biaora in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh is working to clean the polluted Ajnar River.
Surendra Singh Chaudhary, who is well known on social media as ‘Bittu Tabahi’, started a cleanup campaign to remove pollution and junk and to raise awareness of the river’s condition.
Chaudhary started the campaign on January 26, 2026, and has been working at places where waste had become a significant problem directly.
He was manually removing garbage and polythene from areas around a local temple, where waste had collected along the river.
The cleanup has not been without risk. In polluted and challenging conditions, Chaudhary has had limb infections. He has also encountered snakes while clearing debris from the riverbank, adding another challenge to his already demanding effort.
Even so, the young man has continued to campaign for the Ajnar River on social media, bringing awareness of the issue to the public.
To him, it is his own work that has shown us how we can put the world’s environmental problems in the spotlight, which can be under-covered when we do so.
The local municipality has also assisted in the campaign. The authorities have provided JCB and Poclain machines to remove old waste, polythene, and other accumulated debris. Heavy machinery has helped to make the cleanup much more extensive than an ordinary person could achieve.
The participation of municipal authorities is an important part of the campaign because it is not enough to get people involved in river restoration themselves.
#WATCH | Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh: Surendra Singh Chaudhary, a 21-year-old https://t.co/j5uUgYTay8. student from Biaora, Rajgarh district, launches a single-handed cleanup campaign for the polluted Ajnar River.
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2026
Known on social media as 'Bittu Tabahi', Surendra started the drive… pic.twitter.com/dCtXI0ZoqM
In the long run, we need waste removal, proper disposal systems, and methods to keep any new garbage away from the rivers and streams.
Chaudhary’s initiative has also opened a wider conversation about civic responsibility. Plastic waste, household garbage, and other pollutants affect rivers and local water bodies and are particularly problematic in areas where waste-management systems are under pressure.
The Ajnar River cleanup campaign demonstrates the impact young people can have when they actively take up environmental issues.
What started as a one-person project by a college student has now been supported by local civic authorities, and the campaign is spreading out.
When the cleanup is done, it will probably be that we move from the disposal of all the waste to the cleaning of the water streams to prevent pollution.
But Chaudhary’s message is simple: it is not up to authorities to clean up the rivers. Community participation and individual responsibility are the key to keeping the water sources clean.
