Who is Bittu Tabahi? Meet the Indian student whose river cleanup brought a Dutch job offer

Dubai: Until a few months ago, Surendra Singh Chaudhary was a little-known BSc (bachelor of science) second-year student in Madhya Pradesh. Today, the 21-year-old better known as Bittu Tabahi has become a national talking point — after cleaning a polluted river largely by himself and attracting a job offer from an international environmental organisation.

The student, better known online as Bittu Tabahi, stepped into the polluted Ajnar River and began doing it himself.

What started as a local cleanup effort has now brought him an extraordinary reward: a job offer from the founder of a Netherlands-based organisation fighting plastic pollution in rivers and oceans.

Bittu, from Biaora in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district, began his mission on January 26, India’s Republic Day, after becoming disturbed by the condition of the Ajnar River, according to reports in The Indian Express and NDTV.

Plastic, algae, sludge and other waste had accumulated in the water, including around an area near a local temple.

A few friends initially joined him. But as their involvement dwindled, Bittu largely carried on alone.

Savings spent on cleaning river

Armed with basic equipment, he repeatedly entered the polluted water to pull out garbage, eventually removing tonnes of waste, according to NDTV.

He spent his own savings on cleaning equipment and dustbins and continued despite the physical toll.

The work was particularly risky because Bittu reportedly does not know how to swim and initially worked without adequate protective gear. NDTV reported that he suffered skin problems and infections and encountered snakes while cleaning the river.

Yet he kept going.

Videos documenting his efforts — and striking before-and-after images showing the transformation of the river — began spreading across social media.

His determination attracted praise from industrialist Anand Mahindra and eventually reached Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who invited Bittu to the Chief Minister’s residence and praised his initiative.

But then his story travelled much farther — to the Netherlands.

WHO IS BITTU TABAHI?

• Real name: Surendra Singh Chaudhary

• Age: 21

• From: Biaora, Rajgarh district, Madhya Pradesh

• What he does: Second-year BSc student and environmental volunteer

• The mission: Began cleaning the polluted Ajnar River on January 26, 2026

• How it started: A few friends initially helped, but it became largely a solo effort

• What he removed: Tonnes of plastic, algae, sludge and other waste

• Personal sacrifice: Spent his own savings on cleaning equipment and dustbins

• The risks: Reportedly cannot swim and suffered infections, skin problems and encounters with snakes

• Why he went viral: Before-and-after images of the transformed river spread widely online

• Who noticed: Industrialist Anand Mahindra and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav were among those who praised his work

• Global recognition: The Ocean Cleanup founder Boyan Slat saw his work and responded: “Come work for us.”

‘Come work for us’

Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, spotted a social media post highlighting Bittu’s months-long effort to clean the river.

His response was just four words:

“Come work for us.”

The invitation transformed what had begun as one student’s grassroots effort in Madhya Pradesh into a potential international opportunity.

Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup in 2013. The Netherlands-based nonprofit develops technologies to remove plastic from oceans and intercept waste in rivers before it reaches the sea.

Its mission closely mirrors, on a vastly larger technological scale, what Bittu had set out to accomplish with his own hands in the Ajnar.

Bittu lives with his parents and comes from a modest background, NDTV reported.

There had been no job application and no conventional recruitment process. Instead, months spent wading into a polluted river and tackling a problem he believed somebody needed to solve ultimately put the young Indian on the radar of an international environmental organisation.

What began on Republic Day with one student trying to clean up a river in his hometown may now take him halfway around the world.