At a Press Club Kolkata session, scientists, medical experts, and senior journalists call for focused, simpler reporting of rising heat that highlights public health risks and the voices of marginalised communities.
Kolkata, July 3, 2026
As West Bengal grapples with unprecedented summer temperatures and extreme weather events, an interactive session at the Press Club, Kolkata, brought together weather scientists, medical and environmental experts, and senior journalists to discuss ways to simplify and strengthen climate coverage in the media for larger public awareness. The panel urged reporters to also focus on escalating public health threats and the missing voices of marginalised frontline communities bearing the brunt of this climate crisis. The session held on Friday, titled ‘The Future of Bengal: Impact of Heat & Extreme Weather’, aimed at highlighting how extreme heatwaves and extreme weather events were reshaping the state’s public health, economic, and social fabric. It was jointly organised by Asar Social Impact Advisors Pvt Ltd, Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP), and the Press Club, Kolkata.
Providing details on the workings of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Dr H.R. Biswas, Scientist-F at the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Regional Centre in Kolkata, decoded the shifting patterns of regional heatwaves. Dr. Biswas walked journalists through the complexities of IMD’s early warning systems and clarified critical meteorological terminologies, urging the media to use these tools to give communities more lead time to prepare for extreme events. Dr R.K. Jenamani, Head of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata, was also present at the event.
The conversation shifted to impacts of heat on people during the presentation by Dr Pratim Sengupta, a leading Kolkata-based nephrologist and clinical research fellow from Boston, USA. Dr Sengupta delivered a stark warning about the invisible toll that prolonged heat and high humidity take on the human body, particularly regarding kidney health and dehydration. He emphasised that frontline workers, outdoor labourers, and marginalised communities stand entirely unprotected from these physiological stresses, calling for immediate medical preparedness and policy-level interventions to protect vulnerable populations.
A panel discussion titled Beyond the Data: People, Narrative & Bengal’s Climate Reality tackled the challenges of modern climate journalism. Moderated by senior journalist Ritwik Mukherjee, the panel featured experts like Prof. Abhijeet Chatterjee of Bose Institute; Swati Bhattacharjee, journalist and researcher; Jayanta Ba, climate journalist; and Snehashi Sur, President, Press Club Kolkata.
Prof. Abhijeet Chatterjee of the Bose Institute emphasised that both the researchers and journalists will have to work together to make sure that the dense scientific data stories are converted into a clear story for the public without losing the facts of the crisis. “Climate stories, be it on air quality, heat or other crises, will need to be treated as a core topic that affects our economy, politics, and daily life. The workshop concluded with reporters and speakers mapping out collaborative strategies for future climate coverage. Key strategies included the necessity of integrating IMD early warnings into daily reporting before heatwaves peak. Experts also emphasized that extreme heat is an active public health threat that directly impacts health and strains local medical infrastructure. Finally, the panel noted that effective climate journalism requires reporters to actively seek out the voices of marginalised frontline communities, particularly women.
Quotes from Experts Swati Bhattacharjee,harjee Journalist and Researcher
“We have to look at the marginalised whose mobility is the main thing for their livelihood. In women-based agriculture FPOs, women used to start at 9 am but now start at 6 am. Women who used to lease five bighas are now taking only three bighas because they cannot work the same duration of hours. This leads to them leaving home early, not being able to feed their children, and causing malnutrition. For construction workers, 40% of labourers are women, and if they drink more water, they don’t have access to clean toilets. For medical representatives, a huge percentage are women, but they are not allowed to use hospital toilets or hospital shade. Heat-related absence is not given any compensation anywhere in the world, and women’s job loss is still not covered in any heat impact action plan.”
Snehashis Sur, President, Press Club Kolkata
“Journalists cannot just keep focusing on political stories; we have to bring and highlight the climate and environment stories in a way that they are given priority on the front page and no longer treated as page fillers.
Jayanta Basu, Climate Scientist
“There should be more engagement between scientists and journalists. Right now, it is too targeted and study-specific; it needs to go beyond that to create confidence between scientists and researchers.”
