One man, 8 months of work, and a river dirty again: Why Bittu Tabahi may quit

Madhya Pradesh’s 20-year-old environmental activist Surendra Singh Choudhary, popularly known as Bittu Tabahi, is losing hope after finding the Ajnar River polluted again despite months of cleanup efforts.

Choudhary gained attention for removing tonnes of garbage from a stretch of the river in Biaora, in Rajgarh district. However, waste has returned to the riverbanks, particularly after Dussehra, undoing much of his work.

“I have been working to clean this river for the past year. Every time I have cleaned it, people have dirtied it again,” he told The Times of India. “I am starting to lose heart.” He added that he was considering focusing on his studies.

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Garbage returns despite months of effort

On October 16, Bittu shared a video on Instagram showing plastic bags and other waste accumulating along the riverbanks. He had spent more than eight months cleaning the polluted stretch, often working alone with limited equipment and sometimes using his bare hands or plastic gloves. His efforts also left him with a severe skin infection.

After discovering that the river had become dirty again, he expressed disappointment on social media. “I never imagined that eight months of my hard work would go to waste like this,” he wrote. Despite the setback, he resumed cleaning the river.

In another video, Bittu explained that he had placed two dustbins near a tree along the riverbank to encourage people to dispose of their waste responsibly. When he returned, however, only one bin remained.

“I had placed these dustbins here not for my personal use, but to give people something to dispose of waste in properly so the river doesn't get polluted again,” he said.

Bittu’s experience highlights the limits of individual efforts when they are not supported by wider public participation and effective waste management. His repeated struggle to keep the river clean also raises questions about civic responsibility and the need for people to change their waste-disposal habits.

His work has helped draw attention to the pollution of the Ajnar River, but keeping it clean will require more than one person’s efforts.