Katra Sadatganj, Uttar Pradesh, India (CNN) -- It's pitch dark as we drive through the villages of India's most populous state. No street lights line the roads which cross large swaths of farmland; the only flashes of light come from the bolts of lightning which flicker across the stormy night sky.
A powerful dust storm has knocked out power supplies as we head into Uttar Pradesh's Budaun district, but the headlights of our car illuminate the hazy figures of men and women squatting behind roadside bushes to defecate.