In you script, start a subshell to kill it.
Example:
(read -t $delta </dev/tty59;kill SIG $$)&

At your choice, read or sleep...



R C V wrote:
> On Mar 18, 1:58 pm, R C V <rss...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi,
> > My requirement is to start a program at a future time x and stop
> > it at time x+delta. Can someone tell me how I can do it
> > using shell scripts.
> >
> > TIA,
> > R C
>
>
> Cron s me schedule it at a future time , but does not let me kill
> it after
> a specified "duration".. Can someone throw some more light ?