A 20-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh has received an unexpected opportunity after his efforts to clean a heavily polluted local river caught international attention.
Surendra Singh Choudhry, popularly known online as Bittu Tabahi, spent months cleaning the Ajnar River largely on his own. Without the backing of a major organisation or campaign, he used his own money to buy basic supplies. He regularly removed plastic, garbage, and other waste from the river and nearby areas.
Surendra later shared before-and-after pictures of the river on social media, highlighting the visible transformation his efforts brought about.
His work eventually reached Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, a Netherlands-based organisation focused on tackling plastic pollution in oceans and rivers.
Slat responded to a social media post about Surendra’s efforts with a short but significant invitation: “Come work with us.”
The message could mark a major new chapter for the young environmentalist, turning his personal mission to clean a local river into a potential global opportunity.