All political parties have completed the first phase of door-to-door canvassing in Rautgaun, Bheri Municipality-1, Jajarkot. However, there is a 'trend' to not vote for local Dhan Bahadur Mahar this time.

‘They always make promises during elections, but after winning, they don’t look back. It has been two and a half years, a family of 7 is forced to live in a one-room hut. Water has entered the hut and ruined all the food, clothes, and other belongings,’ he said. ‘Leaders came and left saying they would build houses. How many votes will you give to those who always make false promises?’

He complained that he was suffering more after the rains that have been falling since Tuesday soaked the belongings inside the house. His two sons, Om Prakash and Pankaj, have gone to India to work. The hut where his two daughters-in-law, 3 grandchildren, and the dowry couple were living is in danger of collapsing.

The family of Bir Bahadur Bik of Chiuri, Nalgad-1, has moved to a house that was destroyed by the earthquake after the cold weather intensified. ‘I couldn’t bear the cold in Tohro, it was difficult to save food and crops due to the frost,’ he said, ‘There was no immediate plan to build a house, so there was no option but to move to the collapsed house even though it was risky.’ His two sons, Mandik and Manish, are in India for employment. ‘We have had two winters and monsoons, and there is still no plan to build a house,’ he said, ‘Why should we even vote?’ He complained that he was suffering from the cold after snow fell on the hills across the valley.

Last week, earthquake victims in Jajarkot launched a protest. They have submitted a demand letter to the government through Chief District Officer Raju Prasad Poudel, demanding reconstruction. "We have decided not to vote until the candidates commit to not starting the reconstruction work within this time," said Surendra Shahi, the leader of the movement. "By now, all the families should have moved into new houses, but the construction of even one house has not started for two and a half years."

He said that the memorandum was submitted with demands such as immediate release of the first installment to the families who had agreements for reconstruction, immediate implementation of the agreements of the beneficiaries who have completed the process and disbursement of grants, correction of errors in the Detailed Damage Assessment (DDA), and amendment of impractical working procedures.

Earthquake victims complain that they are now facing problems in earning a living after losing their jobs due to the earthquake. Gyan Bahadur Mahar, 42, of Nalgad Municipality-1, who has been working in India every year since the age of 15 until before the earthquake, said that the delay in reconstruction has increased the burden of debt. "We couldn't even go to India when we were told that we needed a house to build a new house, nor was there a guarantee that the house would ever be built," he said. "There is no work around the village, we are borrowing money from our neighbors to cover our family expenses."

He complained that nearly 250,000 rupees in debt had been added since the earthquake. His family of 8 spent nearly 3.5 months in a tarpaulin, and it has been over two years since they started living in temporary shelters.

After the government neglected the reconstruction, some of the earthquake-affected people have started building their own houses, while most of them have returned to their destroyed houses, said Badri Pant, ward chairman of Nalgad-4. "There is snow on the hills across the border, how can we escape the cold in shelters," he said. "The federal government's delay has forced the victims to move to risky houses." He said that out of the nearly 450 houses with DDA, about 50 families have already built their own houses.

Earthquake victims have been further affected by Tuesday night's rain and snowfall. Barekot Rural Municipality Chairman Bir Bahadur Giri said that snowfall occurred in the hills of Barekot, Junechande and Kushe Rural Municipality. 'They are forced to stay awake all night by lighting fires in temporary huts to escape the cold,' he said, 'Most of them have returned to their old houses.'

The number of patients suffering from health problems including cold, cough, fever, diarrhea, pain in the hands and feet, and body aches is increasing among the earthquake victims, said Dr. Sunil Pun, head of the Health Service Office. According to him, up to 150 patients come to the district hospital for treatment daily. According to him, the pressure of patients has increased in all health institutions across the district. He informed that there is no shortage of medicines and health workers.

Nalgad Municipality Mayor Dambar Bahadur Rawat said that the federal government's negligence has led to more problems for the earthquake victims. "Without permanent housing, the earthquake victims are forced to live a miserable life in tents without basic facilities, and they have problems earning a living," he said. "If we had been given the responsibility, the reconstruction work would have been completed throughout the district by now, but the work has not yet started." According to him, the agreement process for the municipality's 3,252 beneficiaries has not yet begun.

On Kartik 17, 2080, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake with Barekot in Jajarkot as its epicenter killed 154 people in Jajarkot and Rukum West. 51 people died in the cold and floods and landslides after the earthquake. According to the District Administration Office, 26,557 houses in Jajarkot were completely damaged and 35,455 houses were partially damaged. In Jajarkot alone, 14,245 houses need to be reconstructed and 12,744 houses need to be repaired (strengthened), said Chief District Officer Raju Prasad Poudel.

According to him, a working procedure has been made to provide 400,000 rupees for reconstruction and a maximum of 300,000 rupees for strengthening. For which, the process has been taken forward for the reconstruction of about 4,600 beneficiaries of Bheri Municipality and Nalgad Municipality. Out of them, 641 people from Bheri have already signed agreements with the local disaster management committee. But he said that the first installment of 50,000 rupees for reconstruction has not been released yet as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has not sent the money.

Almost all the candidates from Jajarkot are giving priority to reconstruction and assuring the earthquake victims. Shakti Bahadur Basnet, a candidate for the House of Representatives from the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), claimed that the relief and rescue work after the earthquake was effective when he was a member of the House of Representatives before, and that most of the earthquake-affected people received the money for the construction of temporary shelters on time. ‘Who would be as worried as I am about the earthquake-affected people?’, he said, ‘Initially, there were some problems due to delays in the DDA, later the reconstruction work was stopped due to protests and other reasons, and the reconstruction work will be accelerated as soon as possible after the election.’