As the excitement of the House of Representatives elections increases across the country, in Chitlang, Makawanpur, the lack of daily life has become a bigger issue than the excitement of the elections. Although activists are seen moving around on motorcycles and cars carrying flags, there is no water flowing in the village streams. Elections come and go; but for four months, the dry stream has forced the locals to walk to distant places every morning.

Gopal Balami, 65, of Thaha Municipality-9, Chitlang, was found in a hurry to mow the lawn. Showing the field in front of his house, he said, 'This field and that hut are all mine.' But when the topic of the elections was raised, he laughed and avoided it, 'Now they are going to mow the lawn, the elections are not going on haha... Well, this time it doesn't feel like an election. The candidates are walking on the road, they haven't come here.'

Gopal lives with his wife in Chitlang. His son and daughter-in-law are in Gangabu, Kathmandu. Amid rising prices and limited income, his election expectations are low - 'I wish I had drinking water.'

Drinking water has now become a bigger issue than the election debate in Chitlang. 60-year-old Rajendra Das Pradhan was chopping firewood in front of his house. He also runs a small grocery store. Pointing to the stream near his house, he said, 'It has been four months since the water stopped coming here. He has to go to that other tap to get water. Everyone comes there.'

He wishes that water had come to his house in his old age. 'It would have been better if they had drawn it from the stream. Well, no one cares. Now everyone is just happy that tourists come. There is no one to provide water.'

Chitlang has become a favorite destination for domestic tourists in recent years. The number of people visiting this area, which is connected to Indrasarovar Lake, Markhu and Kulekhani areas, has increased on weekends. But for the locals, water shortage has become a permanent daily problem.

70-year-old Lalmaya Balami was found feeding grass to her goats. Talking about the election hustle and bustle, she looked at the road near her house and said, 'They are moving around the roads carrying flags on bikes and cars. Maybe because the election is coming. Maybe they are interested, but we are not.'

Do you have any experience of candidates coming to seek votes? 'Yes, I did not know that they came. They came when their son and daughter-in-law were at home,' she said. Expressing her mood of not voting this time, she added, 'No matter how much I say, no one has done anything. This time, I will not even vote - whether they come to ask for it or not.'

The reason for her anger is also water. 'How can I vote for 'Kakakul' who cannot provide water? We, who live on the hill side, have suffered from water problems for years. As the years pass, the problem is increasing.'

According to locals, an attempt was made to find a temporary solution by bringing a tank. But since the long-term plan has not been implemented, the problem remains the same. ' Sometimes it comes, sometimes it does not. This is how it has become. This is how it is in this hill until water is drawn from the river,' said Lalmaya.

The road is also a 'problem'
Along with water, another old problem of Chitlang is the road. Whether it is the road from Kulekhani to Markhu or the Thankot to Chitlang section, both become muddy and dangerous during the rainy season. Even in the dry season, dust and potholes annoy commuters.

42-year-old Sunkeshari was planting cauliflower. Her main occupation is agriculture. 'The road from Kulekhani to Markhu is also difficult during the rains. The road from Thankot is also the same. If at least one road was better, it would be easier to travel throughout the year,' she said.

She wants to take the vegetables she produces to Kathmandu and sell them herself. But she says she has to depend on middlemen due to the road conditions. 'If it were a little easier, I could do it myself. Sometimes the road is open, sometimes it is not. We are in the middle. That's why we have reached the destination, but it would have been even easier if we had been able to do it ourselves.'

But she did not want to blame anyone. 'I do not abuse anyone. My job is to vote. I vote with hope. Whether they work or not is a matter of their morality. If they do not work, they can change their minds,' she said.

Jhilke Thing, 47, who runs a guesthouse in Markhu, also says that his business has not been able to flourish due to the road. 'There is Indrasarovar Lake here. People come from far away to eat fish. But it does not work like that during the monsoon,' he said. 'Maybe now that the elections are approaching, they have taken dozers to various places and dug and dug. The day after tomorrow, it will be the same lake.'

According to him, if the road is upgraded in the long term, Chitlang can become the main tourist 'hub' of Makwanpur. 'This place has potential since we started working a little more seriously,' he said.

Nirmala Basnet believes that there has been some improvement compared to the previous generation. 'When I got married, this road was completely muddy. Now vehicles have started plying. This is also development. It has not been as good as I thought,' she said.

Chitlang falls in Makwanpur constituency number 2. Mahesh Vartaula from the CPN (UML), Buddha Lama from the Nepali Congress, Lavasher Bista from the CPN and Prashant Upreti from the National Independent Party are competing in this area. Most of the candidates have made roads their primary agenda. But according to locals, the issue of drinking water has been overlooked in every election.