For hundreds of tribals living in six remote hamlets in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli, stocking up essentials and medicines before the onset of monsoon is an annual ritual as rains cut off these places from the rest of the district for four months due to the swollen water bodies.

Situated on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border, Binagunda, Turremarka, Kovakodi, Perimilbatti, Fodewada and Damanmarka villages form the state’s last frontier. Talking to PTI, an official based in Bhamragad taluka, which is about 36 km from these places, said the six hamlets surrounded by hills are the remotest and last villages on the state border.