NEW DELHI, Sept 22: The Indian government has decided to build two nuclear-proof bunkers to protect top leaders in case of an atomic strike, a report said on Monday.

The first shelter would be built in New Delhi at South Block, a 1931 complex next to the presidential palace that houses the prime minister’s office and the foreign and defence ministries, the Hindustan Times reported.

It said the second bunker would be set up within a 400-kilometre radius of the capital.

Potential locations in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and in the central province of Madhya Pradesh were being studied by the head of the air force, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, and the chief of the nuclear forces, Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana, the paper said.—AFP