Man killed in fight over water in India

CHENNAI, India: A 33-year-old man died after a fight over water in southern India, police said Friday, as the country gasped from extreme heat and storms that killed 24 in the north.

The argument broke out on Wednesday when a 48-year-old man and his three sons were allegedly syphoning large quantities of water from a public tank near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu state.

A local man, named as D. Anand Babu, confronted them and violence broke out, police said. Babu was taken to hospital and died the next day. His father was also injured in the altercation.

Vast swathes of India have been sweltering a heatwave in recent days with temperatures nearing 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in northern states like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Large areas have also been hit by drought, leaving millions dependent on water trucks and adding to the misery of farmers in states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The problems have been exacerbated by the late arrival of monsoon rains, although they were due to make landfall in southwestern India within 24 hours, forecasters said Friday.