New Delhi, Oct. 14 -- Surendra Singh Choudhary, the 20-year-old known online as Bittu Tabahi, who drew widespread attention for cleaning the Ajnar River in Madhya Pradesh largely on his own, shared a disappointing update about the river on his Instagram account on Tuesday.

In a video, Tabahi showed the present condition of the Ajnar River in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district, saying that his eight months of hard work had been wasted. He highlighted a disappointing contrast with its condition a few weeks ago, when the river was clean. As of Tuesday, it was once again covered with plastic bags and garbage.

Tabahi, who earned recognition last month from many people, including those far beyond his town, for cleaning rivers largely on his ow...