One of the key outputs under our capacity-building efforts for regional journalists and stringers has been a series of issue-centric workshops designed to deepen nuance and strengthen public discourse through stories that go beyond data and statistics. To this end, between April and May 2026, Asar organized six specialised regional workshops focused on understanding rising heat, demystifying meteorological science, and equipping journalists to build data-backed, people-centred narratives on extreme heat and public health.
Key Highlights
Total Number of Regional Workshops: 6 workshops across 5 states (Mumbai, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Ranchi, and Bhubaneswar). One workshop pending to be held in July at Kolkata
Total Stakeholder Engagement: Over 270 media persons directly engaged nationwide.
Key Dignitaries, Chief Guests & Senior Leadership Engaged
Shri Eshwara Khandre – Hon’ble Minister for Environment and Forests, Government of Karnataka (Inaugurated the Bengaluru workshop).
Shri M.S. Divakara, IAS – Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.
Mr. Bikram Singh – Head, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Mumbai.
Dr. Manorama Mohanty – Director, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bhubaneswar.
Dr. Praveen Kumar – Chief Forecasting Officer, RMC Nagpur.
Dr. Abhishek Anand – Senior Scientist, IMD Ranchi.
Sanjay Mishra, Resident Editor, Prabhat Khabar (Jharkhand) & Mr. Bhabani Tripathy, Group News Editor, Sambad & Kanak News (Odisha).
Key Public Health & Scientific Resource Persons
Dr. Pradeep Awate – Former State Surveillance Officer, Maharashtra Health Services (Led health tracking frameworks in Mumbai & Nagpur).
Prof. Debadatta Swain – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar (Expert on physiological thresholds and wet-bulb temperatures).
Dr. Arabinda Mishra – Chairperson, Development and Environment Futures Trust (DEFT) (Expert on localized pediatric climate risks).
Professor Nitish Priyadarshi – Renowned Geologist and Environmentalist (Expert on urban heat islands in Jharkhand).
Dr. Ashutosh Acharya – Aurassure (Led hyperlocal climate data visualization).
Detailed Information about the Workshops
- Mumbai, Maharashtra
Date: April 16, 2026
Partners: Mumbai Press Club & Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Mumbai
Attendance: 42 journalists
Resource Persons:
Mr. Bikram Singh – Head, RMC Mumbai (joined by two IMD scientists)
Dr. Pradeep Awate – Former State Surveillance Officer, Maharashtra Health Services
Key Highlights & Insights:
Coastal Heat Dynamics: Focused heavily on the compounding relationship between high temperatures and humidity, explaining wet-bulb temperatures and the heat index specific to coastal cities.
Heat and Public Health: Framed heat as a severe medical crisis rather than mere discomfort. Dr. Awate highlighted the direct link between rising urban heat days and mental health deterioration, explicitly noting increased cases of clinical stress, irritability, and rage in Mumbai and Pune.
Policy & Institutional Adjustments: Proposed concrete civic adaptations, such as shifting traditional wedding hours away from the 12 PM to 3 PM peak, opening public parks as afternoon cooling zones, and utilizing religious spaces as public heat shelters.
- Nagpur, Maharashtra
Date: April 22, 2026 (Held on World Earth Day)
Partners: Patrakar Club of Nagpur & Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Nagpur
Attendance: 31 journalists across key digital and print media houses
Resource Persons:
Dr. Praveen Kumar – Forecasting Officer, RMC Nagpur
Dr. Pradeep Awate – Former State Surveillance Officer, Maharashtra Health Services
Key Highlights & Insights:
Simplifying Complex Science: Dr. Kumar broke down technical meteorological jargon, explaining the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and climate change’s role in magnifying severe heat patterns in Central India.
Accountability in Journalism: Emphasized how the media can actively monitor the ground-level implementation of Nagpur’s Heat Action Plan (HAP) and evaluate the preparedness of local medical infrastructure.
Film Screening: Successfully screened Civic Studios’ short film It’s Only 47°C (starring Sharib Hashmi), which set a powerful visual and emotional tone for the scientific discussion.
- Bengaluru, Karnataka
Date: April 28, 2026
Partner: Karnataka Media Academy (Held at The Capitol Hotel)
Attendance: Over 50 journalists
Inaugurated By: Shri Eshwara Khandre – Hon’ble Minister for Environment and Forests, Government of Karnataka
Resource Persons:
Shri M.S. Divakara, IAS – Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre
Smt. Nithya J – Executive Engineer, Climate Action Cell (FECCM, GBA)
Swati – Senior Associate, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)
Apekshita Varshney – Founder, HeatWatch
Key Highlights & Insights:
A Holistic, Grounded Lens: Departed from purely statistical and data-driven reporting by hosting an exclusive panel of outdoor workers, allowing journalists to hear firsthand testimonies of extreme heat vulnerability.
Government Mandate: Following the briefing, the Environment Minister formally requested Asar to submit the workshop’s conclusions and recommendations to directly help guide state policy.
- Chandigarh, Punjab & Haryana
Date: May 7, 2026
Partners: Chandigarh Press Club, IMD, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), and CleanAir Punjab
Attendance: 80 participants, including regional journalists, civil society organizations (CSOs), digital influencers, and community leaders
Resource Persons: Represented by experts from the Punjab State Council for Science & Technology, the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health, and Director Health Services Chandigarh, alongside progressive farmers and gig workers.
Key Highlights & Insights:
Multi-Sectoral Intersection: Used a participatory model across two panels: the first mapped heatwave impacts on health, livelihoods, and Punjab’s specific agricultural systems; the second explored institutional preparedness.
Vulnerability Testimonies: A gig worker detailed the lack of accessible cooling infrastructure, emphasizing the urgent need for occupational safety. Representatives from faith-based groups discussed utilizing religious structures as public cooling shelters.
Amplifying Awareness: Actively engaged digital and social media influencers to translate technical weather warnings into relatable public campaigns.
Concrete Outcomes Achieved: Four Active Cooling Centers: Established three cooling hubs powered entirely by faith-based networks, and one cooling center built via a joint collaboration between the local Municipality and EcoSeva.
Institutionalized Infrastructure: Initiated a pipeline with the National Programme on Climate Change and Human Health to explore permanent, shaded summer shelters near traffic signals for outdoor workers.
Policy Reform Advocacy: Formally launched advocacy for an integrated HAP for Punjab and Haryana that moves past reactive disaster management to protect labor, public health, and agricultural systems.
- Ranchi, Jharkhand
Date: May 8, 2026
Partner: Ranchi Press Club
Attendance: Over 40 journalists and regional experts
Resource Persons:
Dr. Abhishek Anand – Scientist, IMD Ranchi
Professor Nitish Priyadarshi – Geologist and Environmentalist
Resident Editor of Prabhat Khabar
Key Highlights & Insights:
Concrete Construction Risks: Prof. Priyadarshi warned of Ranchi’s rapid transition into a localized heat island due to unbridled concrete expansion.
Language-Specific Climate Reporting: The panel highlighted a historical gap in regional language reporting, acknowledging an urgent need for deeper, more sensitive, and technically accurate climate and heat coverage in Hindi media.
Labor Vulnerability: Outlined specific scientific indicators of heat stress and mapped the direct safety vulnerabilities faced by daily-wage laborers working under unshaded sunlight.
Film Screening: Successfully screened Civic Studios’ short film It’s Only 47°C (starring Sharib Hashmi), which set a powerful visual and emotional tone for the scientific discussion.
6. Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Date: May 27, 2026
Partners: Press Club of Odisha, Socratus Foundation for Collective Wisdom, and Odisha Environment Congress
Attendance: Approximately 90 journalists and digital micro-influencers
Resource Persons:
Prof. Debadatta Swain – IIT Bhubaneswar
Dr. Manorama Mohanty – Director, IMD Bhubaneswar
Dr. Arabinda Mishra – Chairperson, Development and Environment Futures Trust (DEFT)
Bhabani Tripathy – Group News Editor, Sambad & Kanak News
Moderator: Anuj Das – Journalist, Kanak News
Key Highlights & Insights:
Integrated Frameworks & Decentralization: The panel argued that modern Heat Action Plans must evolve past emergency warnings into integrated climate-health frameworks. They emphasized decentralizing implementation down to the Panchayat level.
Shift from Sensationalism to Solutions: The workshop called on the media fraternity to move away from fear-based, sensationalized weather headlines and pivot toward data-backed, culturally rooted climate journalism.
Digital Resource Drive: The Socratus team introduced a permanent QR-coded media kit drive given to all attendees, which will be continually updated with evolving heatwave data and resources.
Film Screening: Successfully screened Civic Studios’ short film It’s Only 47°C (starring Sharib Hashmi), which set a powerful visual and emotional tone for the scientific discussion.