Understanding environmental issues for better reportage: A media briefing for journalists Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh)

A workshop and a power plant

Second in the series of workshops on the thermal power sector in India, the Media Briefing Workshop for Better Reportage

was held on June 3-4 to June 17-18 in the city of Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh. The participants to this inter-state event included journalists from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. While the key issue discussed at the workshop was CSE’s report: Heat on Power, a review of the thermal power sector in India, the workshop was also an opportunity to discuss environmental issues holistically. The workshop was enriched by specialist resource persons including lawyer Seshagiri Rao, activist Babu Rao, senior journalist and editor Ashok Tankashala, ash brick manufacturer N. Kalidas and CSE’s Richard Mahapatra and Priyavrat Bhati.

 

 

The two-day workshop included one day of visit to Dr Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station which is one of the oldest power stations in the state.  For most visitors, including journalists who often visit the most unlikely of places, this was their first-ever visit to a thermal power plant. It was at the power station that terms like turbines, coal-washing and  fly ash – to name a few – assumed new meaning as the participants got the opportunity to see these first-hand.