Cyclones named by 8 nations,monitored in city

“The tropical cyclones over north Indian Ocean have been given names by eight countries,Bangladesh,India,Maldives,Myanmar,Oman,Pakistan,Sri Lanka and Thailand. It was only in 2000 that the World Meteorological Organisation panel on tropical cyclones agreed in principle to assign them to name tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. The naming commenced on September 2004,” said additional director general IMD,Pune HR Hatwar.

Just as in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific,the names of a cyclone given by various countries are listed alphabetically,country wise and sequentially in a column. “So Laila was christened by Pakistan while Bandu came up from Sri Lanka. We have had Onil,Ogni and Nisha from Bangladesh earlier while India’s Agni,Akash and Bijli have gone by in the past years,” adds Hatwar.

The met also sought suggestions for naming of cyclones to be included in the list. If the proposed name meets the set criteria it could be included.

The names should be short and should be readily understood when broadcast,should not be culturally sensitive and should not convey some unintended,potentially damaging meaning. Even as the Indian terrain started naming cyclones eight years back it was in the mid 1900s that saw the practice of using feminine names for storms.

Later,they moved to naming storms alphabetically and before the end of 1900s forecasters starting using male names for storms forming in the southern hemisphere.

However,tropical cyclones/hurricanes are not named after a particular person and does not adhere to any alphabetical sequence. “Names familiar to people in each region are selected. The aim is that people should understand and remember the names to facilitate disaster awareness,preparedness,management and reduction,” said the official. Hatwar said it was important to name these cyclones as it would help identify individual tropical cyclones,help the people to be aware of its development as well help media to report it and not confuse people when there are more than one cyclone to be remembered.