Ethiopia volcano eruption: Is Delhi, North India still at risk, or has the threat passed? IMD shares update

A cloud of ash from the Ethiopian volcanic ash eruption reached India late Monday, 24 November. The Hayli Gubbi volcano, located in Ethiopia's Afar region, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) northeast of Addis Ababa near the Eritrean border, erupted on Sunday, 23 November, for the first time in nearly 12,000 years.

There was no lava, but thick plumes of smoke went up to 14 kilometres (nine miles) into the sky, the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) said. Videos shared on social media, which could not be immediately verified, showed a thick column of white smoke rising.

Volcanic ash drifted towards India around 11 pm on Monday and reached the skies over Gujarat, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana on Tuesday. This sparked concern about its impact on the weather and air quality over India.

More than 24 hours later, are Delhi and North India still at risk, or has the threat passed?

In its latest update, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying that as of 10:30 pm on Tuesday, satellite imagery showed that the ash plume from the Ethiopian volcanic eruption had completely exited India.

The IMD had, in an earlier update, said the large ash plume produced by the volcanic eruption in Ethiopia had risen to around 45,000 feet — disrupting high-altitude flight corridors and triggering widespread cancellations.

Flight disruptions

Airlines cancelled dozens of flights scheduled to fly over affected areas. 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 capital, New Delhi, were cancelled on Tuesday, while at least a dozen were delayed, according to an official at the airport.

Did Ethiopia's volcanic ash impact weather and air quality?

Experts noted that ash clouds from Ethiopia's Hayli Gubbi volcanic eruption affected aviation, but not local weather or air quality.

Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology at the IMD, said the impact remained limited to higher levels.

"The impact of this volcanic ash is being seen only in the upper troposphere, and it is affecting the flight operations. It has no impact on air quality and weather. Our estimate is that this volcanic ash will completely move towards China by evening," he told news agency ANI.

He explained that international flights typically operate between 35,000 and 40,000 feet, while domestic services fly between 25,000 and 33,000 feet, adding that the volcanic ash was being observed "in the upper troposphere" over Indian airspace.

'Residents were coughing'

An official in charge of health in northern Ethiopia's Afdera district, Abedella Mussa, said residents were experiencing coughing, and mobile medical services from the larger Afar region had been deployed to the remote area.

“Two medical teams have been dispatched to the affected kebeles (neighbourhoods) like Fia and Nemma-Gubi to provide mobile medical services,” he was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

Another official in charge of livestock, Nuur Mussa, said animals were unable to find clean water or grass. “Many animals, especially in the two affected kebeles, cannot drink clean water or feed on grass because it is covered by volcanic ash,” he said.