How the cyclone ‘Nisarga’ was named

A week after cyclone 'Amphan' wreaked havoc in West Bengal, the country is now bracing to face another cyclone which is headed towards the coastline of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

'Nisarga', which is currently brewing in the Arabian Sea, means nature and was termed by India's neighbouring country -- Bangladesh. The name was accorded in a list formulated by a group of countries.

Bangladesh had also suggested 'Fani', which had made a landfall in Odisha on May 3, 2019. The extremely severe cyclone had caused extensive damage.

The naming of cyclones in the Indian Ocean began in 2000 and a formula was agreed in 2004. The next few cyclones will be named Gati (named by India), Nivar (Iran), Burevi (Maldives), Tauktae (Myanmar) and Yaas (Oman).

Tropical cyclones are named to help the scientific community and disaster managers to identify cyclones, create awareness and effectively disseminate warnings to wider audiences.

The World Meteorological Organisation and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific had, at its twenty-seventh Session held in 2000, agreed to assign names to the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand were part of the panel. Later in 2018 Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen were added to the list.

Cyclones around the world are named by Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres. There are a total of six RSMCs and five TCWCs, including the India Meteorological Department.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has been mandated with the duty to name cyclones that develop over the North Indian ocean, including Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, by following a standard procedure.

As suggested by the 13 countries, IMD released a list of cyclone names in April, 2020. The names like Arnab, Nisarga, Aag, Vyom, Azar, Prabhanjan, Tej, Gati, Lulu among 160 other names were listed.

The new list included the last name from the previous list 'Amphan' as it remained unused at the time of release. After 'Amphan', 'Nisarga' name was picked up for the ensuing cyclone.

According to the IMD, the names should be gender, politics, religion and culture neutral, not hurt sentiments, not be offensive, be short, easy to pronounce.

Meanwhile, a deep depression has formed over the Arabian Sea and is inching closer to the coastal districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The deep depression is now slated to further turn into a cyclonic storm in 12 hours and then into a severe cyclonic storm in subsequent 12 hours.

It is likely to cross north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts between Harihareshwar town in Maharashtra's Raigad district and Daman as a severe cyclonic storm on the afternoon of June 3.