But don't worry, there was a meeting recently after which each government department in New Delhi decided it's time to prepare for The Day After. Ask Transport Minister Parvez Hashmi, he says he plans to acquire land and build bunkers -- with ``help from the Centre.''

Health Minister A K Walia says he's trying to get NGOs to organise artificial limbs if you get hurt. The only problem, he admits, is that there may be an epidemic in the bunkers.

If this doesn't inspire confidence, read on. The Government thinks Pakistan will target Lutyens' Delhi or the area that falls within the New Delhi Municipal Corporation. Everything will be reduced to rubble. There are expected to be no survivors. If there are any, they will suffer ``severe loss of limbs'' and other injuries. If youare lucky -- to be precise, extraordinarily lucky -- you will have to get into an asbestos suit before you are herded into underground bunkers. Where are these bunkers? Ask Hashmi.He has a list: the subways, the ones which are never used these days; the underground Metro railway stations. ``We will have bunkers in every colony primarily because people cannot be exposed to the nuclear radiation... each Metro rail platform can take about 10,000 people. There are going to be 40 such bunkers or rather platforms which the MRTS will build.''

So on each platform, you will huddle, crammed in the frightened crowd, waiting for the dust to settle, the bodies above to be carried away, before you can walk back to whatever's left of the city. The War Book says that the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, his/her ``valuable'' colleagues and ``important'' political leaders will take off in special planes from Palam to Hyderabad or Bangalore. According to intelligence sources, such vehicles are already standing byfor the VVIPs. Hashmi assures the VVIPs that his department will provide the ``safe vehicles.'' All this, needless to add, is based on the hopeful assumption that our VVIPs will escape the bomb.

According to intelligence reports, quoted by the Delhi Government officials, the possible target of attack will be the President's Estate which will ``pulverise'' the area within a radius of about 10 km. The Delhi Health Department too is preparing for the Day After. ``We are also preparing for providing a large number of artificial limbs with the help of NGOs so that the wounded can be immediately taken care of,'' says Health Minister Walia. ``The main problem will be that of medicine and epidemics in the bunkers,'' he said. There are also plans to offer a compensation of Rs 7 lakh to the families of the dead.

The Defence Ministry and Delhi Government have prepared an ``impact assessment atlas'' which talks of the areas likely to most affected after the nuclear blast. The worst-hit would be areas in central andnorth Delhi. Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Dwaraka, Gurgaon and areas near the Haryana border are expected to be safe. Provided, of course, the man who pushes the trigger across the border has got his mathematics precisely planned as per New Delhi's calculations.