A river that had become a dumping ground is now at the centre of an unlikely career story. Surendra Singh Choudhary, better known online as Bittu Tabahi, is a 20-year-old from Biaora in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district. For months, he has been getting into the polluted Ajnar River and removing plastic, bottles, algae and other accumulated waste.Then came a message from a person working on a much bigger environmental mission. Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of Netherlands-based non-profit The Ocean Cleanup, responded to a post about Bittu’s work with three simple words: “Come work for us.”
Who is Bittu Tabahi?
Bittu’s real name is Surendra Singh Choudhary. Reports identify him as a Biaora resident and BSc student who began the river-cleaning effort on January 26, 2026.He did not have a large team or sophisticated machinery. His work involved physically removing waste from stretches of the Ajnar River. He also recorded the transformation and shared it through social media.His videos eventually travelled far beyond his hometown. The attention also brought criticism from some people who questioned whether the cleanup was mainly for social-media views. Bittu continued documenting the actual work instead of getting drawn into the argument.
The message that changed the story
The turning point came when an X post highlighted Bittu’s work and showed before-and-after images of the river.Slat noticed it and replied, “Come work for us.” That public invitation quickly went viral, with social-media users calling it a potentially life-changing opportunity.There is, however, an important detail: the public message is an invitation, not a confirmed formal appointment. No verified information has been released publicly about Bittu’s job title, salary, joining date or employment terms.
Why this offer makes sense
The connection is striking because The Ocean Cleanup works specifically on plastic pollution in oceans and rivers. Its official website says the organisation wants to achieve a 90% reduction in floating ocean plastic by 2040 and also focuses on stopping plastic before it reaches the sea.India’s river pollution problem also shows why such work matters. A Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) assessment identified 351 polluted river stretches on 323 rivers based on water-quality data from 2016 and 2017.
Anand Mahindra had noticed him too
Before Slat’s message, Bittu had already caught the attention of industrialist Anand Mahindra.Mahindra defended the young man’s work after criticism over his social-media presence. He wrote that if the desire for “likes” could become a force for good, that was not necessarily a bad thing. He called Bittu his #MondayMotivation.That may be the most interesting part of Bittu’s story. The internet often rewards spectacle. Here, a young man used the same internet to show something that required getting his hands dirty.