Cyclone Nisarga, a fast-moving depression in the Arabian Sea is predicted to be intensified into a severe cyclone. The name ‘Nisarga’ has been suggested by Bangladesh.
Cyclone Nisarga is making landfall along India’s western coast, forcing a high alert in the financial hub of Mumbai and evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
As per the India Meteorological Department, the impact of the cyclone is likely to be felt in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
There is a concern about the impact of the cyclonic storm on the battle against Covid-19, as the rain and flooding may set back social distancing and other necessary measures at evacuation centres, and even at some Covid-19 facilities located in low-lying areas.
Few days back, super cyclone Amphan - one of the strongest cyclones the country has seen in the last few decades - hit West Bengal, Odisha and Bangladesh.
Cyclones are low-pressure systems that form over warm tropical waters, with gale-force winds near the centre. The winds can extend hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the eye of the storm.
Sucking up vast quantities of water, they often produce torrential rains and flooding resulting in major loss of life and property damage.
They are also known as hurricanes or typhoons, depending on where they originate in the world, when they reach sustained winds of at least 119 kilometres per hour (74 miles per hour).
Scientists say historically, the Arabian Sea averaged two or three cyclones, that were typically weak, in a year.
The Arabian Sea also previously experienced fewer severe cyclones than the Bay of Bengal off India's eastern coast.
But rising water temperatures because of global warming is changing that, they said.
This is the first time since the start of satellite records in 1980 in India that there have been four consecutive years of pre-monsoon cyclones in the Arabian Sea.
In 2000, a group of nations called WMO/ESCAP which comprised Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, decided to start naming cyclones in the region.
After each country sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalised the list.
The WMO/ESCAP expanded to include five more countries in 2018 — Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The list of 169 cyclone names released by IMD last month, in April, were provided by these countries — 13 suggestions from each of the 13 countries.
The new list included the last name from the previous list (Amphan) as it remained unused at the time of release.
Incidentally, the IMD has issued an alert for Cyclone Amphan, which is forming over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Andaman sea.
While picking names for cyclones, here are some of the rules that countries need to follow. If these guidelines are following, the name is accepted by the panel on tropical cyclones (PTC) that finalises the selection:
The proposed name should be neutral to (a) politics and political figures (b) religious believes, (c) cultures and (d) gender
The 13 names in the recent list that have been suggested by India include: Gati, Tej, Murasu, Aag, Vyom, Jhar (pronounced Jhor), Probaho, Neer, Prabhanjan, Ghurni, Ambud, Jaladhi and Vega.
Some of the names picked by India were suggested by the general public. An IMD committee is formed to finalise the names before sending it to the PTC.
