Protests in Uttarakhand over Delhi gang-rape

Dehradun: Demanding stern punishment for the culprits, people from different walks of life, especially students and women, on Friday hit the streets across Uttarakhand in protest against the Delhi gang-rape incident.

Holding placards and banners, school students took out a procession at city's busy Rajpur road to express solidarity with the rape victim, and demanded toughest punishment for the culprits.

A similar demonstration was held by schoolgirls at Lalkuan in Nainital.

Expressing abhorrence at the brutal assault of the girl who studied at an institute in Dehradun, a student in Lalkuan said culprits should be hanged to give a strong message to potential wrongdoers.

Women burnt effigies at Jhoolaghar in Mussoorie to register their protest against the incident.

Uttarakhand has been witnessing a spurt of protests for the past few days with students of DAV College, Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, Pradesh BJP Mahila Morcha and many other outfits holding rallies in different parts of the state.

Women members of Uttarakhand Bar Association have also demanded execution of the culprits, saying stringent punishment to them alone can serve as a deterrent and prevent such incidents.

PTI

Ganga canal closure to affect water supply to UP, Delhi

STAFF WRITER 14:39 HRS IST

Muzaffarnagar (UP), Sept 24 (PTI) Water supply to the national capital and some districts of Uttar Pradesh would be affected due the closure of Ganga canal for 20 days.

The canal is likely to be closed from September 28 due to the construction work for Mahakumbh 2010 in Haridwar (Uttarakhand), superintenent engineer Uttar Pradesh Irrigation department K P Singh said today.

With the decision, which has been taken on the request of Uttarakhand, water supply to Delhi and 19 districts of Uttar Pradesh would be disrupted, affecting farmers the most.

Meanwhile, a proposal to postpone the date of closure has been sent to the state government to prevent loss of crops in Uttar Pradesh, an Irrigation department spokesman said.

Transportation in Almora

Air
Airport is Pantnagar (Nainital): 127 km.

Transport
Nearest Railway Station is located at Ramnagar, 90 km, from where direct trains are available for Delhi, Lucknow and Agra. The Kathgodam station is located at about the same distance. Some of the major trains from Kathgodam are:
Shatabdi Express
Howrah Express (3019/3020)
Ranikhet Express (5013/5014)
Rampur Passenger (1/2 R.K. Passenger and 3/4 R.K. Passenger)
Naintial Express (5308/5307)

Road
Almora is well connected by road to important centres in the region. Some distances:
Delhi (378 km)
Lucknow (460 km)
Nainital (66 km) (via Ranikhet 103 km)
Kathgodam (90 km)
Source: www.wikipedia.org