Party workers have been revving up Tatopani with marches and rallies as polling day draws closer, raising the hopes of locals that the town's old vibrancy will return.

Once a hotspot for transit commerce on the northern border with China, Tatopani lies abandoned since the 2015 earthquake destroyed the infrastructure and trans-Himalayan trade came to a halt.

The election campaign revolves around one platform—reviving the glory of Tatopani.

Tatopani has an illustrious history as the start of the legendary caravan route to Tibet; and in its modern avatar, the border town used to handle most of Nepal's overland trade with China.

The earthquake of 2015 was only the start of Tatopani's descent into irrelevance. It faces myriad problems like recurring dry landslides, deserted and ruined markets, half-destroyed houses and terrible roads.

Traders and locals have no idea when the international border will open or slam shut.

"In the 2017 election, we had vowed to vote for the candidate who would promise to open the border,” said Sunmaya Tamang of Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality.

“There is no proper checkpoint for the public. The existing infrastructure is in a poor condition. The situation hasn't changed in the past five years.”

The immigration staff and security personnel deployed at the border checkpoint live in a dilapidated building.

Nepal's national flag which has been planted at the ruined Araniko Gate under Liping Rock is about to fall down. Other infrastructure in the border area is disintegrating.

“The political leaders are back again with the same pledges in their manifestos,” said Tamang.

Before the earthquake when the border town hummed with the steady flow of commerce, foreign tourists and Nepali visitors crowded the stores attracted by their low-priced merchandise.

The government used to raise billions in revenue. Long queues of container trucks arrived at Tatopani from China, providing jobs to hundreds. Dozens of hotels and restaurants came up to serve the swelling population.

Locals have lost hope that Tatopani will ever see its former hustle and bustle.

Agni Prasad Sapkota, outgoing speaker of the Maoist party, and former minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet of the Nepali Congress were the main contenders in Sindhupalchok-1 in the 2017 election.

Sapkota, who received the support of the UML, had promised a makeover of Tatopani as his main agenda. He got 40,000 votes and defeated Basnet.

"Sapkota became speaker of the House, and Basnet became information and communication minister. But they never resolved the problem at the border," said Tamang.

Hundreds of people lost their jobs, the market died. Instead of trying to revive trade through Tatopani, the Chinese government opened another border transit point at Kerung further to the west. Tatopani then virtually closed, according to locals.

Sapkota is not contesting the election this time.

Madhav Sapkota, a leader of the Maoist party, and former provincial minister Saresh Nepal of the UML are competing for a seat in the House of Representative.

Former Minister Sher Bahadur Tamang is contesting with Basnet in Sindhupalchok-2.

Madhav Sapkota, a new face, and Nepal are making lofty promises to the voters, and the major items on their agenda include returning the Tatopani border to its previous glory.

A week ago, Sapkota, who reached Tatopani along with high-level government officials and political leaders, held a mass meeting and assured locals that he would take the initiative to fully open the border.

"Many ministers and government officials failed to deliver when they were in power. We don’t have any hope that the new ones will deliver either after winning the election,” said Salden Sherpa, a local trader.

“That's why locals are not very enthusiastic about the elections."

But Sherpa believes that the new faces will do something.

China, on its side of the border, has almost completed the required infrastructure for an international border. On the Nepal side, everything looks deserted.

China is working rapidly as it has readied a 7 km road from Miteri Bridge to Khasa and constructed other technical infrastructure.

There are 20-25 half-destroyed and dilapidated houses in Liping Bazaar. No one lives there. Three families live near Liping Bridge.

Since the 2015 earthquake and the 2016 Bhotekoshi flood, heavy landslides have continued to occur along the border. A 26-km section of Kodari Highway which has been damaged by the flood has not been fully repaired.

Before the earthquake, more than 50,000 foreign tourists used to flock Tatopani annually.

More than 40,000 Chinese tourists used to enter Nepal over the Tatopani route. After the closure of the Tatopani border, pilgrims from India have not been able to visit Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet.

The number of domestic tourists who used to come to bathe in the hot springs and shop in Khasa has plunged to rock bottom.

Suku Sherpa, a ward member of Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality-4, said that due to the government's negligence, there is only one-way traffic at the border.

Chinese authorities allow goods to pass into Nepal but bar Nepali exports to China.

There is no proper infrastructure for immigration officials, armed police force personnel and the Nepal Police at the international border point.

"The government has completely ignored Tatopani. The budget for the rural municipality is nominal. We alone can do nothing," said the ward member.

The Tatopani border was opened to cargo traffic four years after the 2015 earthquake. When Covid-19 struck, the border was closed completely once again.

The border closure has immobilised 1,400 freight containers, 2,800 drivers and 5,000 labourers.

"Due to the shorter distance to Kathmandu, traders prefer the Tatopani trade point to import and export goods. But there are frequent problems which have been preventing the smooth functioning of the border," said trader Dorje Lama.

"With China allowing only a few containers at a time to pass across the northern border into Nepal, it took months for shipments of readymade goods and other products worth millions to arrive in Kathmandu during the previous Dashain," Lama said.

Traders said that due to the hassles involved in importing goods through Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani, they had been rerouting their shipments through seaports in India.

"The traders have all fled from Tatopani. There is no charm here,” Lama said.

“Traders do not want to bring their imports from China across the southern border because of the higher cost and longer time,” Lama said. “But no one understands Chinese policy.”

Raj Kumar Basnet, president of the Sindhupalchok Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said they and the Nepal Trans-Himalayan Border Commerce Association have been submitting memorandums to the prime minister, ministers and government officials every six months demanding that the Tatopani border point be improved.

“When the issue gets publicised, Chinese authorities increase the number of containers allowed to enter Nepal from 10 to 30 daily,” Basnet said. "After a few days, the number of containers decreases to three to six. This flawed policy gives traders a hard time,” he said.

“We have been continuously exerting pressure on the government," Basnet said.

According to Daya Nidhi KC, chief of the Tatopani Dry Port and Customs Office, lockdowns are still being imposed in Tibet, and as a result, trade in Nepal is being disrupted.

“That's why there is a quota now. Tibet has been permitting only three containers to depart form Shigatse daily.”