Indian Kashmir advises people to prepare for nuclear war

Officials ask residents to build bomb-proof basements and collect two weeks’ worth of food and water.


Afp January 22, 2013
Indian security posts (R) are seen along the border between India and Pakistan in Suchetgarh, southwest of Jammu, January 6, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS

SRINAGAR: Police in Indian Kashmir have warned residents to build underground bunkers to prepare for a possible nuclear war in the disputed region, which is on edge after a string of deadly border clashes.

The warning comes despite a ceasefire which took hold last week in the scenic Himalayan region, after the Indian and Pakistani armies agreed to halt cross-border firing that had threatened to unravel a fragile peace process.

"If the blast wave does not arrive within five seconds of the flash you were far enough from the ground zero," says the notice, headed "Protection against Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) Weapons".

It warns of "initial disorientation" from a nuclear attack, saying the blast may "carry away many prominent and familiar features".

The instructions were issued Monday in a local English-language Greater Kashmir newspaper by the State Disaster Response Force, which is part of the police.

They vividly describe a nuclear war scenario to prepare residents to deal with "the initial shock wave".

The notice tells them to "wait for the winds to die down and debris to stop falling".

"Blast wind will generally end in one or two minutes after burst and burns, cuts and bruises are no different than conventional injuries. (The) dazzle is temporary and vision should return in few seconds," it says.

It tells residents to build basement shelters "where the whole family can stay for a fortnight" and stock them with non-perishable food.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three wars since partition in 1947, two of them over the Kashmir region that both nations claim.

Police confirmed they issued the notice but said it "should not be connected with anything else", in an apparent reference to border tension.

The notice is part of regular year-round civil defence preparedness, Mubarak Ganai, deputy inspector general of civil defence in Kashmir police, told AFP.

There has been calm along the de facto border in Kashmir since commanders of the two sides agreed last Thursday to halt the cross-border firing.

Pakistan says three of its soldiers died in the firing while India says it lost two of its soldiers – marking the worst violence along the frontier dividing the region since the two nations nearly went to war in 2003.

COMMENTS (115)

Munna | 11 years ago | Reply

Poor Kahsmiris. Paksisan should immideatly annouce they will never nuke indian occupied Kashmir.

MitraofKutch | 11 years ago | Reply

An article published long time ago is still available to read from library records of Kutch Science Foundation.

We are well aware of the news published in KutchMitra that Pakistan is aiming their atomic missiles to Gujarat. But in reality Target is not the Gujarat but the First target is BHUJ along with Delhi. As Delhi is a strategic importance as centre of all commands and BHUJ is strategic importance of warfare target.

Delhi may be protected by deep underground atomic resistant bunkers and command centres for political and warfare importance but not for the public point of views. And naturally how public of Delhi can be accommodated in such bunkers.

Similarly for attacking to Gujarat, BHUJ is the First hurdle and so strategic warfare importance of BHUJ. And so BHUJ is such a place that it does not have any facility knowledge/preparation of such BUNKERS will be first target of such an attack.

Though BHANADA NALIYA air force is second air force based in Kutch but attacking BHUJ is more Vulnerable and likely to create the more chaos as city centre will be destroyed along with military command protecting Gujarat.

We need to make awareness and act for quick shelter as it takes only minutes to arriving destructing weapons from across the border.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ