N. Kalaiselvi, Director General, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Tuesday said that the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) here will develop healthcare footwear.
Interacting with presspersons, she said CLRI had already begun working with doctors and other healthcare professionals for the same and the models are likely to be ready in a year. “We have already started to make footwear for children with cerebral palsy. If they wear these as children, the problem can be corrected. Trials are to be done for these. We are looking at footwear that will be motorised,” explained CLRI Director K. J. Sreeram.
Dr. Kalaiselvi also went on to explain that in 18 months’ time, CLRI would get the Indian Footwear Sizing system ready. “We have collected over one lakh samples and are processing the data. We have submitted the sizes to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Now, we will manufacture shoes and footwear along with shoe manufacturers and then conduct user trials for six months,” he explained. The Director General said the CLRI, which handholds the footwear industry from end to end, would also look at making sports shoes that are suited to Indian feet.
She said that she would soon write to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to use the technology that CSIR had perfected to use slag, a waste product from the steel industry in laying roads. “The lifetime of such steel slag roads is three times more and is economically viable. We have region-specific data about where slag is available. We have perfected paver rejuvenation technology where the cold milled material from roads can be crushed and reused when blended with a bio binder. The Border Roads Organisation tried it out at 18,000 feet in minus 15 degree temperatures,” she said.
