Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) says it is recycling discarded footwear left during Ganesh idol arrival processions in the Lalbaug–Parel–Chinchpokli belt. After large crowds move through the area, roads are reportedly littered with slippers, sandals, shoes and boots, which BMC sanitation workers collect during cleanup drives.
In this year’s initiative, the BMC collects the abandoned items and hands them to a charitable organization, Green Sole Foundation, for processing rather than disposal. The foundation refurbishes and recycles the footwear at a facility in Bhiwandi, where usable parts are recovered to manufacture new pairs. The completed footwear is then distributed through NGOs to tribal students and children from economically weaker families.
Across reports, the focus is on reducing festival waste and repurposing it to support needy communities. One account cites a cleanup that gathers about one dumper-load of footwear after the processions and describes storage near Saibaba Path School before transportation to Bhiwandi. Another reports an overall volume of roughly four tonnes being recycled, with the refurbished items distributed to children after NGO-led distribution.
