Ethiopia's long-dormant Hayli Gubbi volcano erupted on Sunday for the first time in around 12,000 years, producing a large ash plume rising to approximately 14 km (45,000 ft) in altitude and spreading eastward across the Red Sea.
The ash cloud is moving towards China and is expected to clear Indian skies, the India Meteorological Department said in a statement.
That ash cloud has swept over parts of western and northern India – including Delhi, just as the capital battles yet another spell of "very poor" to "severe" air quality.
Is Delhi Affected?
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the recent ash clouds from the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia are expected to move from India towards China. Talking to Akashvani News, Director General of IMD, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, said that the ash cloud is affecting only aircraft operations and has no impact on the weather or air quality.
Even the satellite data and the IMD show that the ash from Hayli Gubbi is travelling high in the upper troposphere, well above the level at which Delhi’s residents breathe.
As the cloud moved in from Gujarat, over Rajasthan and the National Capital Region late on Monday, Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stayed in the 350–360 "very poor" band – grim, but largely unchanged from earlier in the week when volcanic ash was not present, as reported by The Hindustan Times.
Experts and government agencies are therefore clear on one point: the Ethiopian ash is not the primary cause in Delhi’s toxic haze.
Instead, the choking pollution continues to come from local and regional sources such as vehicle emissions, industrial activity, construction dust and winter-time burning of crop residue in neighbouring states.
Hayli Gubbi Volcano's Impact On Indian Airlines
Where the ash is having an impact is in the skies and not at street level. Volcanic particles at cruising altitudes can severely damage jet engines and aircraft sensors. Airlines cancelled dozens of flights scheduled to fly over affected areas.
India's flag carrier, Air India, said it cancelled 11 flights, most of them international, on Monday and Tuesday to inspect aircraft that may have flown over affected areas, acting on a directive from India's aviation safety regulator.
Another Indian operator, Akasa Air, said it had cancelled flights to Middle East destinations such as Jeddah, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi scheduled over the past two days.
At least seven international flights scheduled to depart from and arrive at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Indian capital of New Delhi were cancelled on Tuesday, while at least a dozen were delayed, according to an official at the airport.
- with inputs from PTI
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