Bhubaneswar, Dec. 7 -- Cut off from the world by broken paths and absent basic services, the people of this remote village in Kutuniganda under Dharakote block in Ganjam district continue to battle a life of hardship each day. With no proper roads, no clean water supply, no network connectivity and no access to schools or healthcare, survival itself has become a daily struggle for the residents, who walk miles for essentials and carry the sick through forests in desperate hope of medical help.

To collect ration rice, residents walk miles; and when illness or labour pains strike, patients are carried on makeshift cots through forested hill paths to reach the nearest health facility. Many have lost their lives en route, while some women ha...