SRINAGAR, Jan 23: A top leader in Indian-held Kashmir on Wednesday described the advisory telling residents to prepare for nuclear war by building basement shelters as a “daft idea”.

The State Disaster Response Force in a notice this week urged people to build shelters to prepare for a potential nuclear conflict in the disputed region, which has been on edge after deadly border skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops.

“What a daft idea!!!” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a post on micro-blogging website Twitter, referring to the advisory which appeared in a local English-language newspaper.

The notice instructed residents to build toilet-equipped underground shelters “where the whole family can stay for a fortnight” and said the bunkers should be stocked with non-perishable food. Civil defence authorities in the Indian-held region confirmed that they had issued the notice on Monday but said it “should not be connected with anything else”, in an apparent reference to the recent border flare-up.

The advisory was part of regular year-round civil defence preparedness, Mubarak Ganai, deputy inspector general of civil defence in the police force, said.

The prime minister of Azad Kashmir dismissed the nuclear warning as a pressure tactic.—AFP