Agni is not only an Indian missile and Bijli is not only a firecracker. These are also names of cyclones which have hit the Indian Ocean in the past. Some other Indian names given to tropical cyclones in the last few years were Aakaash and Jal.
Names have also been suggested by other countries that have coastlines on the North Indian Ocean namely Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The name Thane, given to the cyclone that struck Tamil Nadu in December 2011, was suggested by Myanmar. The approaching cyclone that will be named Nilam gets its nomenclature from Pakistan.
“We have a list of names suggested by littoral countries of Bay of Bengal. Any cyclone that hits the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and North Indian Ocean will be identified using the names available with the Regional Specialized Meteorology Centre (RSMC) Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre, New Delhi in a rotational basis,” said Dr Y.E.A. Raj, deputy director general of Meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai.
He also added that the country had been avoiding giving names to cyclones as it could hurt the sentiments of people of particular castes or religions, since cyclones are associated with destruction and devastation.
“The US were using names for a long time and we found out that it actually helped in reaching out to the public rapidly. It also facilitates disaster risk awareness, preparedness, management and reduction. So we started giving names from September 2004,” he noted.
Director of Area Cyclone Warning Centre Dr S.R. Ramanan said that the public could also send suggestions of names to IMD, Delhi.
“Once someone suggested the name Adhiyamaan and we forwarded it to Delhi,” he added.