With the massive incoming threat of the cyclone ‘Amphan’, the government has activated the NDRF and defence forces. The cyclone is expected to make landfall in West Bengal and Odisha on Wednesday, 20 May.
Why is It called ‘Amphan’?
Pronounced as ‘Um-pun’, the word means sky and was given by Thailand in the year 2004. The names for cyclones are picked from a list created by a grouping of countries, World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific or WMO/ESCAP.
India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka and Thailand are on the panel and name cyclones in the region.
How Are Cyclones Named?
The eight countries suggest eight names each, that are then sequentially listed. The Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre gives a tropical cyclone an identification from the names list. Both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are covered by the identification system.
For example, Bangladesh had suggested the name ‘Onil’, which was also the first in the collated list. ‘Onil’ had originated in the Arabian Sea, off the Gujarat coast sometime between September and October 2004.
Whenever the next cyclone originates it will be named ‘Vayu’ which had been suggested by India.
57 names out of the list of 64 names have been used as of now. The names suggested by India include Agni, Jali, Bijli, Akash. While Mala, Helen and Nilofar were names suggested by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan respectively.
These names are used only sequentially and are not rotated.
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)