Discuss the role of the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones and IMD's RSMC in regional disaster risk reduction.

Cyclones in the North Indian Ocean cross national borders, so their warnings must too. The WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) has 13 member countries. Together with IMD's Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC), New Delhi, which works under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, it forms the region's shared early-warning system [1].

Role of the WMO/ESCAP Panel: setting common rules

• Common framework: the Panel agreed in 2000 to name cyclones, and naming began in September 2004 [1].
• Wider membership: its 2018 Muscat session added Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Yemen. The 2020 list has 169 names, 13 from each member [1].
• Clear communication of risk: names are short and neutral, and they are never reused. This avoids confusion when two storms occur at the same time and speeds up public warnings [2].
• Annual review: names are revised when a member raises a reasonable objection, so the list stays culturally acceptable to all members [2].

Role of IMD's RSMC New Delhi: providing the science

• Naming authority: it names a storm once sustained winds reach 34 knots [1].
• Regional advisories: it issues cyclone and storm-surge advisories to all 13 members [1]. This helps members with smaller weather services, such as Maldives and Myanmar.
• Soft power: it presents India as a reliable first responder, in line with the SAGAR vision.
• Benefit at home: the same forecasts drive IMD's colour-coded alerts and pre-emptive evacuations, as seen in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha during Cyclone Arnab (Oct 2026).

Gaps that remain

• Warnings protect lives, not assets: during Arnab, waves washed away a coastal road at Uppada, Kakinada [3].
• Forecast uncertainty: storms that stall, interacting weather systems and rapid intensification over a warming Bay of Bengal are hard to predict with a single forecast track.
• Last-mile capacity: advisories work only if each member's national agencies can turn them into local action.

The Panel sets the rules and the RSMC supplies the science. Together they have turned a cyclone-prone basin into a cooperative warning zone. The next step is impact-based and ensemble forecasting, shared storm-surge modelling, and training for member countries' weather services. This fits the Sendai Framework, the UN's Early Warnings for All initiative and SDG 13, and moves the region from saving lives to building resilience.