“They make fun of me, call me crazy. Some of them tell me to clean their drains. Some call me ‘naala saaf karne wala’.”
For Bittu from Biawara in Madhya Pradesh, this is a daily reality. Colloquially known as Bittu Tabahi, the 20-year-old made waves on social media after a video of him stepping into the heavily polluted Ajanar river and pulling out waste with his bare hands went viral.
The rise of the “cleanfluencer” in India has made this paradox even clearer. These are people who record the process of cleaning up public places like rivers, ghats, streets, and parks. A lot of people on the Internet like their videos, which often show dramatic before-and-after changes. But their presence also shows that society is uncomfortable with people who show responsibility.
Bittu’s journey began on January 26 when he decided to stop waiting for the government to fix things and start cleaning the river himself.
“I wanted to make a machine to clean the river, but I didn’t have the money. I am a student,” he says. “So I thought, I will clean as much as I can with my own hands.” Since then, he has spent hours every day removing garbage from a 500-metre stretch, often without basic protective gear. The effort has taken a physical toll. “I got infections. The skin on my hands and feet started coming off,” he tells indianexpress.com.
Support, however, has been scarce. “We haven’t received any help,” he says. “People don’t stop littering. I have even put a dustbin there, but they don’t use it.” Instead, he more often encounters disbelief and mockery. “They say, what is this river to you? Why are you doing this?”
The viral video
And yet, this same work recently gained attention on social media when industrialist Anand Mahindra shared a video of Bittu on X. In the video, Bittu is seen wading through filth, dragging out plastic, algae, and debris from a river in his city. The video went viral, earning praise and admiration. But the attention also brought back a familiar accusation, that he was doing this “for likes and views.”
In a country where civic sense is one of the most discussed topics on social media, this discomfort stands out. Videos of people littering, defacing public property, or ignoring basic hygiene norms frequently go viral, sparking outrage and debate. Trends mocking “zero civic sense” regularly dominate timelines. Yet, when individuals step in to address these very issues on the ground, the response is often sceptical or hostile.
Delhi-based environmental content creator Sonali Singh sees this contradiction up close. For her, documenting clean-up drives is less about motivation and more about frustration. “When I see people doing visarjan in Yamuna Ghat and leaving statues there, I feel bad,” she says. “People don’t think, ‘I should do my part.’ If one person throws garbage, ten others follow.”
Her work focuses on challenging these normalised behaviours and offering a different perspective. “I am trying to tell people that this is not even respecting your religion,” she explains. But like Bittu, she faces trolling for speaking up. Criticism often comes from those who interpret environmental concerns as cultural or religious attacks. “People start calling me anti-this or anti-that,” she says. “But if you are on the internet, you have to be ready for it.”
Scepticism of cleanfluencers
The scepticism directed at cleanfluencers is not just cultural, it is also psychological. According to psychologist Dr Rimpa Das, such content triggers complex emotional responses. “These videos highlight action in a space where many people feel passive,” she explains. Viewers may feel inspired, but also uncomfortable when they compare it to their own inaction. Labelling the act as performative becomes a way to manage that discomfort.
In an age where everything is defined by social media presence, any act captured on camera is immediately subject to scrutiny. Are these creators genuinely committed, or are they chasing likes and visibility?
Aryan Anurag, co-founder of Binge Labs, explains that regardless of intent, the format itself is effective. “Before-and-after videos work because they show clear change,” he says. “It’s a complete narrative, from problem to resolution.” This clarity makes the content easy to consume and share, contributing to its rapid spread.
Anurag also points out that cleanfluencing is not entirely new. What has changed is the scale of visibility. As awareness around sustainability grows, such content resonates more strongly with audiences. “The behaviour was always there,” he says. “It’s just getting more attention now.”
That attention can have a real-world impact. Sawan Kanojia, founder of an environmental NGO in Meerut, believes that influencer-led clean-ups can strengthen grassroots efforts. “When influencers show this work, it encourages others to participate,” he says. Visibility, he adds, can also create pressure on authorities to act.
There is also a behavioural dimension to these efforts. Clean spaces tend to remain cleaner. “When a place looks clean, people are less likely to litter,” Kanojia explains. This creates a cycle where visible improvement influences community behaviour over time.
But for individuals like Bittu, these broader effects feel distant. On the ground, the challenges are immediate and personal. Despite going viral, he continues to fund his work himself. “I have spent Rs 30,000 to 40,000,” he says. There has been no response from local authorities, and little change in public behaviour. “People still throw garbage like before,” he adds.
Even his family remains unaware of the scale of his work. “They don’t know about social media,” he says. “If they knew, they wouldn’t let me do it.” It is a striking detail, one that underscores the gap between digital recognition and real-world support.
The rise of cleanfluencers in India reveals more than just a content trend. It exposes a tension between awareness and action, between what people say online and what they do offline. Civic sense may be widely discussed, but it is unevenly practised.
And within that gap, content creators like Bittu, Sonali, and many others continue to work, often alone, often ridiculed, and often misunderstood.
In an age where everything is defined by social media presence, any act captured on camera is immediately subject to scrutiny (Image source: @bittu_tabahi/ @soonali_singh/Instagram) 
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