A 21-year-old student has transformed a rubbish-filled river after spending months pulling waste from the water largely by himself.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Surendra Singh Choudhary, known online as “Bittu Tabahi”, began cleaning the Ajnar river in Madhya Pradesh, central India, in January, per the Independent.
Armed with little more than basic tools and his own hands, Choudhary has removed plastic, bottles, algae and other rubbish from the river.
Friends initially joined the university student, but as the months passed, the clean-up increasingly became a solo mission.
Choudhary, who lives with his parents in the small town of Biaora and is studying for a science degree, even kept the project secret from his family at first.
He told NDTV he would claim he was heading out to play cricket or meet friends before making his way to the river instead.
The motivation came from repeatedly seeing the state of the Ajnar while visiting a nearby temple.
“I used to think about it beforehand. Whenever I used to go to the temple or went past the river, I used to think about cleaning the river,” he told the Times of India.
Choudhary continued through changing seasons, sometimes returning during summer evenings despite not having proper safety equipment and being unable to swim.
He initially dreamed of building a machine capable of doing the job but quickly ran into one obvious problem.
“I wanted to make a machine to clean the river, but I didn’t have the money. I am a student. So I thought, I will clean as much as I can with my own hands,” he told the Indian Express.
The work came at a physical cost, with repeated exposure to the polluted water causing infections and skin peeling on his hands and feet.
Choudhary and his friends pooled money for equipment, while he said he personally spent around Rs 30,000 (£233).
“I had installed a few dustbins as well around the river… no funding from anyone,” he said.
Before-and-after pictures of the Ajnar eventually began spreading online, bringing his efforts to a much wider audience.
Indian businessman and Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra shared footage of the clean-up in March and called Choudhary his “Monday Motivation”.
Former England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen later shared photographs of the transformation on Instagram, writing: “Heroic, I say! Deserves international recognition!”
The attention also brought scepticism, with some accusing Choudhary of carrying out the project for social-media views and others questioning whether the images were genuine. He responded to claims that AI had been used to create the transformation by pointing towards the months of work he had put in.
Local authorities have since provided heavy machinery to help remove accumulated debris, while residents have also joined the effort.
But Choudhary believes simply removing the rubbish will not solve the underlying problem.
Five major drains discharge wastewater into the Biaora river, and the municipality has proposed a Rs 147.7 million (£1.1m) sewage treatment plant.
Religious offerings are another source of waste, with Choudhary collecting some flowers and other materials left in the river and turning them into compost.
“I don’t know why people throw garbage in the river. I don’t know why they do that. You can’t stop them,” he told the Times of India.
His work has now caught the attention of The Ocean Cleanup founder and chief executive Boyan Slat, who responded to a post about Choudhary with a remarkably straightforward offer: “Come work for us.”
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has also met Choudhary at his Bhopal residence and praised his efforts.
What began as one student quietly heading to the river with basic equipment has ultimately turned into a clean-up recognised far beyond his hometown — and one that has left the Ajnar looking dramatically different.
Featured image credit: Surendra Singh Choudhry / Instagram
