Bittu Tabahi’s Eight-Month River Cleanup Undone As Garbage Returns To Ajnar River

Eight months of continuous clean-up efforts have been undone in the Madhya Pradesh Ajnar River as garbage piles up along its banks again. Bittu Tabahi, popular environmental activist Surendra Singh Choudhary, has picked up his clean-up campaign, weeks after the river was found to be strewn with plastic bags and other junk.

The 20-year-old shared a video on Instagram on Tuesday showing rubbish scattered along the riverbanks in Rajgarh district. The sight left him disappointed after he had spent months removing tonnes of waste, largely on his own and without specialised equipment.

“I never imagined that eight months of my hard work would go to waste like this,” he wrote in the caption accompanying the video.

Bittu Tabahi Resumes Cleanup Despite Setback

Despite his disappointment, Bittu returned to the river to tackle the problem once again. The video revealed he was entering the water and retrieving bags of trash one after the next to clear the contaminated section.

Bittu also admitted he was not aware of how to swim, which is one of the difficulties he has to overcome to accomplish the clean up.

Instead, he turned to his social media audiences for ideas on how to be more effective in removing larger amounts of waste.

His plea brought to light a recurring issue that is hard to clean a river once people have stopped tossing garbage in it after cleanup drives have concluded.

His request drew attention to a persistent problem: cleaning a river is difficult when people continue to dump garbage into it after cleanup drives have ended.

Social Media Users Rally Behind His Efforts

The video prompted several social media users to express support for Bittu’s work. While many encouraged him to continue his efforts, others pointed out that keeping rivers clean should not be the responsibility of a single individual.

The return of the garbage also highlighted the limitations of isolated cleanup campaigns when they are not accompanied by sustained waste management and efforts to prevent littering.

Bittu’s experience has become a reminder that removing existing waste is only one part of protecting water bodies. Preventing fresh garbage from entering the river is equally important to ensure that cleanup efforts have a lasting impact.

From River Cleanup To Forest Conservation

The Ajnar River is not the only place where Bittu has worked to remove waste. He previously led a team of around 100 people in a cleanup drive at Turahalli Forest, located about 20 kilometres from Bengaluru along Kanakapura Road.

His environmental work has also attracted attention from prominent personalities. Industrialist Anand Mahindra shared his river-cleaning efforts on X, helping bring wider attention to the campaign.

Bittu has also received international recognition for his work, including a job offer from Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of the Dutch environmental organisation The Ocean Cleanup.

The Challenge Of Keeping Public Spaces Clean

Bittu's new video highlights how hard it is to keep rivers and other public areas clean after they've been cleaned. If no action is taken to prevent littering or manage waste, the problem can recur, rapidly.

After the setback, he goes back to the Ajnar River, showing his commitment to the cause. But continued garbage piling also questions the need for more public involvement and continued action in protecting the environment.

The first thing that Bittu has to do is to clear the river again. The bigger problem is ensuring that the waste doesn't come back again weeks later.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susmita Modak

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Always love to raise the unraised matter. In a world of worries, I am always ready to come over my comfort zone and taking the step ahead of spreading awareness.

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