Mumbai: A dormant volcano in Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi region erupted for the first time in nearly 12,000 years, with the resultant cloud of ash plumes spreading across the region. This ash cloud has also started to move towards Western India, after crossing the Red Sea and the marine airspace above Yemen and Oman.
Though these clouds are thousands of feet above the ground, posing a threat to air traffic. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has instructed airlines to avoid certain flight paths and altitudes for safety reasons.
The ash cloud is expected to enter India through Gujarat and move toward Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, with the Himalayas expected to be impacted as well.
This development has forced leading airlines to cancel or readjust their flights, especially those moving towards the Middle East or Europe. Air India, Akasa, SpiceJet and IndiGo have issued advisories, cancelling or delaying several flights, given the health and safety risks of flying near such clouds.
“We are expecting that the cloud will clear up from the Indian region by Wednesday. These are ash particles mainly which are moving at a height of 8km to 15km. So the main impact is on aviation and aircraft operations over Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. We have been issuing those warnings. There is no impact on the surface or the weather. There is no concern of exposure either because at that height, the wind speed is around 100kmph to 150kmph so the particles move away. There is hardly any time to settle down. But if a western disturbance were impacting us and there was rain, these particles would have settled,” M Mohapatra, director general at the Indian Meteorological Department, said.
Following the development, the DGCA has asked airport authorities to conduct emergency inspections of runways and flight aprons to detect ashfall.
