Who is Bittu Tabahi? 20-year-old who cleaned garbage-choked river gets job offer from Dutch NGO: ‘Come work for us’

A 20-year-old Madhya Pradesh man who gained widespread attention for cleaning the heavily polluted Ajnar River has received a job offer from Boyan Slat, founder and CEO of Netherlands-based environmental organisation The Ocean Cleanup.

Surendra Singh Choudhary, popularly known as Bittu Tabahi, had been independently working to clear the river of plastic waste, algae and other accumulated rubbish. Videos of his efforts went viral on social media, drawing attention to his work.

Slat responded to a post on X highlighting Choudhary’s efforts. The post described him as a “20-year-old Indian man” who had been cleaning the polluted river on his own for months and included before-and-after pictures of the waterway.

Slat responded to the post with a brief offer: “Come work for us.”

Social media users call it a ‘lifetime’ opportunity

The Ocean Cleanup founder’s response quickly attracted reactions from other X users, with several praising the opportunity offered to the young environmentalist.

One user wrote, “Wow, this is huge for the boy. Hope you’re serious about this! Go get him.”

Another commented, “Holy opportunity of a lifetime, extremely lucky, and I’m so jealous.”

A third person wrote, “Just the person I was hoping to make him an offer.”

Another user simply remarked, “That is your man.”

Who is Bittu Tabahi?

Choudhary is from Biaora in Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district. He has documented his cleanup work through videos posted on Instagram, showing himself removing plastic, algae and other waste from the Ajnar River.

He is reported to have started the initiative in January this year and has since transformed sections of the river by clearing them of accumulated rubbish. Digital content creator KR Talks claimed that Choudhary had spent around ₹30,000 on the cleanup effort.

Anand Mahindra had earlier praised his efforts

Choudhary’s work had also attracted the attention of industrialist Anand Mahindra earlier this year.

In March, Mahindra shared a post praising the young man’s efforts after some people slammed him for cleaning the river to gain social media attention.

“This young man from Biaora, M.P, was criticised for claiming to have cleaned parts of a river just in order to gain social media views. Well, we usually complain that social media rewards the trivial rather than the meaningful. So if a desire for ‘likes’ can become a force for good that’s fine with me. Bittu Tabahi from Biaora is my #MondayMotivation.”

What is The Ocean Cleanup?

According to The Ocean Cleanup’s official website, Boyan Slat, born on 27 July 1994, is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who focuses on developing large-scale projects to tackle environmental problems.

The organisation develops technologies aimed at removing plastic from oceans and rivers. Its stated goal is to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040, with the long-term ambition of making its own work unnecessary.