1,200 entries in Shoe Strike

The Hyderabad Shoe Strike, initiated in solidarity with the Global Shoe Strike, has received 1,200 entries in the form of footwear with messages.

The shoe strike is a novel form of protest in place of the annual Global Climate Strike initiated by teenage climate activist from Sweden, Greta Thunberg.

In view of the inability to participate in good numbers in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the protest allows the participants to send their pairs of shoes tagged with messages to represent them. The shoe strike is being observed at over 1,400 locations across 130 countries, with more than seven million participants.

In Hyderabad, it has been observed by ‘Fridays for Future Hyderabad’, a collective climate action group, on the lake bed of Osmansagar.

The collective has brought forth two city specific demands, for restoration of the hydrological regime of Hyderabad’s lakes by 2022, and conservation of natural forests as no-go zones.

The Osmansagar lake bed has been chosen to represent the scenario in the city wherein no water is arriving into the lake despite heavy rains, the organisers informed.

More than 1200 shoes with support messages have been shared from across the city, representing people from all walks of life, a statement informed.

The volunteers have ensured that they left the venue only after cleaning it up. The shoes collected were donated to an NGO.