The name ‘Laila' is on everyone's lips for the past two days. The cyclonic storm, as a result of which the city is getting rainfall since Tuesday evening, was named ‘Laila' as per the naming convention of the Indian Meteorological Department.
Y. E. A. Raj, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai, said the convention to name cyclones formed over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea began in 2004. The IMD received a list of names from eight countries — Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Thailand and Sri Lanka — which are World Meteorological Organisation panel members.
The department released the list of 64 names suggested by the countries to provide a unique identification for forecast and warning. “The names suggested must be short and easy to pronounce. They should not be culturally sensitive or convey provocative meaning,” he said.
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Of the 64 names suggested by the member countries, 22 have been used so far. The name ‘Laila' by which the current cyclonic storm is called was suggested by Pakistan. The names ‘Aila' submitted by Maldives and ‘Bijli' suggested by India were provided for cyclones that hit Chennai last year.
The next cyclonic storm would be named ‘Bandu' drawn from the suggestions of Sri Lanka. These names would also avoid confusion among the meteorologists while analysing systems that may form simultaneously.