Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi volcano ash cloud disrupted flights over Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. IMD confirms the high-altitude ash plume is expected to clear Indian airspace by 7:30 PM tonight.
Hayli Gubbi Volcano Ash Cloud India IMD 7:30 PM Departure
In a highly unusual and disruptive atmospheric event, a massive volcanic ash cloud originating thousands of kilometers away in Africa has drifted over significant parts of the Indian subcontinent, prompting major air traffic disruption and intense monitoring by meteorological and aviation authorities. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has provided a critical IMD update, assuring the public that the atmospheric plume is expected to move away from Indian airspace and drift toward China by 7:30 PM IST on Tuesday evening.
The source of this far-reaching phenomenon is the Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region, which violently erupted on Sunday after an estimated 12,000 years of dormancy. This explosive activity thrust a massive column of ash and gases, soaring up to 14 kilometers (around 45,000 feet), into the atmosphere. High-level winds subsequently carried this cloud eastward across the Red Sea, over the Arabian Peninsula, and finally into the Indian subcontinent.
