Environmental issues should not wait for floods, landslides or other disasters before receiving sustained media attention, Dimapur Press Club Vice President and Nagaland Post reporter Bendangchuba Kichu said on Monday, calling for regular and accessible environmental information from the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB).
Kichu was speaking at a Workshop-cum-Sensitisation Programme on Environmental Rules and Compliance organised by the NPCB in collaboration with the Dimapur Press Club at the NPCB Conference Hall, Signal, Dimapur.
He said environmental issues often received less attention than politics, law and order and government programmes, with coverage frequently becoming intensive only when an environmental problem resulted in a disaster.
“We often report extensively on politics, law and order and government programmes, but when it comes to the environment, our coverage is not enough,” Kichu said.
He said there was a need to move away from a largely reactive approach to environmental reporting and give greater attention to pollution and environmental degradation before they develop into crises.
Kichu identified the lack of easily accessible and understandable data, the perception of environmental issues as “soft news” and limited training among journalists in interpreting environmental laws, pollution data and scientific reports as some of the factors contributing to inadequate environmental coverage.
He said journalists should also move beyond relying on international studies and reports and examine how environmental problems affect people locally.
Citing examples, he pointed to open burning of garbage near residential areas and dumping of waste into drainage systems as issues that require greater attention.
He said environmental reporting should explain how such practices affect people’s lives and health.
Kichu urged the NPCB to provide journalists with regular, simple and timely information on air quality, pollution hotspots, water quality, major environmental violations and basic environmental dos and don’ts.
Such information, he said, would help journalists translate technical data into meaningful stories that communities could understand and relate to.
He suggested regular environmental briefings, periodic reports and field visits for media persons as possible ways to build a continuous engagement between environmental authorities and the media.
Emphasising the media’s role as both a watchdog and a bridge between authorities and communities, Kichu said journalists should question the administration when it failed to address environmental concerns, while communities should also be held accountable when their activities contributed to environmental degradation.
He said the NPCB had the technical expertise, scientific data and legal mandate on environmental matters, while the media had the reach to take such information to communities, villages and colonies.
“Let us not wait for the environment to become a crisis before we make it news,” he said.
Earlier, NPCB Senior Environmental Engineer Er. Aghali A. Swu highlighted the growing threats posed by air pollution and climate change, stressing that environmental protection required the involvement of the government, media and public.
Swu said air pollution had emerged as one of the major health risks in India.
Referring to the World Health Organization, she said nine out of 10 people globally breathe polluted air, while noting that pollution could affect not only human health but also agriculture, water resources, soil and the climate.
She also drew attention to groundwater depletion and erratic rainfall, which she said were increasingly affecting farmers and livelihoods in different parts of the country.
“Climate change is really happening faster than we ever imagined,” Swu said, calling for collective efforts to address environmental challenges before they become irreversible.
She underlined the role of the media in educating the public and creating awareness on environmental and climate-related issues, and urged journalists to remain updated on emerging environmental challenges and waste-management rules.
The workshop included technical sessions on ambient air quality and its impact, noise pollution and the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, as well as water quality and its impact.
The sessions also covered the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, E-Waste Management Rules, 2016, Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2024, Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, and consent management and environmental compliance of industries.
Officials of the NPCB served as resource persons for the technical sessions, which were followed by discussions and interactions with participants.
The program was organised in observance of the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies 2026 under the theme, “Clean Air, Healthy Choices: Acting Together for People and Planet”.