The monsoon finally arrived to bring relief to a scorched subcontinent where a three-week heat wave kept temperatures as high as 120 degrees and more than 1200 people died. The welcome rains were a week late in the south and are spreading throughout the country. Most of the deaths were in Andhra Pradesh state among the poor and homeless, but one Australian tourist became a victim when she suffered heat stroke on a crowded train to Varanasi. Clean water is critically short in large parts of India because of recent droughts. Lakes and rivers have dried up and the water table has dropped, causing countless wells to run dry.
