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Delhi Metro Arpan Kendra: Almost every family living in a big city like Delhi faces a common problem: what to do with the old and unused clothes stored in the cupboard? I don’t feel like throwing it away and maintaining it becomes a headache. Delhi Metro has found a very practical and environment-friendly solution to this problem of Delhiites. ‘Arpan Kendras’ started at metro stations are becoming increasingly popular among the people. At these centres, people are depositing their old clothes, which instead of throwing them away, are being converted into beautiful and useful items through reusing, upcycling and recycling.

Praising this initiative of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that Arpan Centers are not just a place to dispose of old clothes, but they have also become an excellent medium to convert waste into useful items. This is helping a lot in making the city clean, beautiful and environment-friendly.

More than 41 tons of cloth collected till 31st August. Delhi Metro Arpan Kendra

These centers were started in the month of August at 10 major stations of Delhi Metro. Five of these centers started operations on August 3, while the rest were opened on August 12 and 17. Talking about the figures, till August 31, a total of 3,940 people have deposited 41,181.59 kg (more than 41 tonnes) of old clothes at these 10 centres.

Most enthusiasm was seen in Rohini and surrounding areas:

• Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital Centre: It was at the forefront, where 9,861.40 kg of clothes were collected.
• Shalimar Bagh: It was at second place, where 9,761.03 kg of clothes arrived.
• Punjabi Bagh West and Shahdara: 6,534.98 kg and 6,386.08 kg of clothes were deposited here respectively.
• Mayur Vihar Phase-1: 5,189.40 kg clothes were found.

Apart from this, people also voluntarily donated hundreds of kilograms of clothes at Hauz Khas, Dwarka-Kakrola, Malviya Nagar, Lajpat Nagar and Mohan Estate stations.

Bags are being made instead of becoming garbagerugs and arches

The clothes collected at the Arpan centers are carefully divided into different categories instead of being thrown away directly. Of these, approximately 4,266 kg were textiles that were sorted for re-use or upcycling, while 29,424 kg of material was sent for recycling.

Using these clothes, Self Help Groups (SHGs) are preparing various useful and attractive products. These include beautiful rugs, office folders, key rings, pouches, cloth bags and decorative festoons. The special thing is that these items are also being displayed at the donation centres, so that people can know how well the clothes donated by them have been used.

Sales of products also started10 new centers will open by January 2027

The beauty of this entire system is that finished goods are also being sold, thereby providing employment to local groups. So far, sales worth Rs 27,036 have been recorded from these centres. Seeing the tremendous support of the people, Delhi Metro is now going to expand this network further. After the success of Arpan Centres, a proposal has been prepared to open 10 more new centres, which can become operational by January 2027. These new centers will be started at Model Town, INA, IP Extension, Paschim Vihar West, Rajendra Place, Janakpuri West, Rajouri Garden, Greater Kailash, Dwarka Sector-10 and Chhatarpur metro stations. The Chief Minister has appealed to the people of Delhi to join this campaign to give new life to their old things and play their part in saving the environment.