In the melting pot called South Delhi where the upscale and posh localities coexist with villages, water, corruption, rising prices and sanitation will be the key factors in deciding the fate of candidates.
Issues like rising prices of essential commodities as well as water and electricity tariff are a priority for villages and colonies where middle-class families are residing.
The residents of upmarket localities like Greater Kailash, Vasant Kunj, Hauz Khas, Safdurjand Enclave, Green Park complained more about infrastructural issues like car-parking, water-logging, sanitation, cleanliness, sewage and expansion of commercial activities in residential areas.
A common concern has been increasing pressure on existing infrastructure for growing population. Most residents complained about inadequacy of infrastructure in residential areas to handle the burden of exploding population.
This has led to issues of parking, congestion, sanitation and bad roads. "There are four-storey buildings being built, where is the existing infrastructure to support it," said a resident of Lajpat Nagar.
Parking is another major issue for the most residents of posh South Delhi localities. "Even though now people have started constructing parking spaces inside their homes, the problem of congestion persists," said a Rajesh Gehlot, a resident of Green Park.
"The problem of parking is causing a nuisance for the residents here. Even in narrow lanes, people park their cars causing traffic snarls," said Harjodh Singh, a resident of Safdurjung Enclave.
Another important issue for the residents of South Delhi has been the problem of drainage and water-logging. Residents of Safdurjung Enclave and Green Park complained that many owners would encroach on the drains for creating parking spaces, thus covering them and blocking the passage of water.
This aggravated the problem of water-logging specially during monsoons. In Safdurjang Enclave residents have complained about the water-logging in the monsoon in front of St. Mary's School. The stagnant water also breeds mosquitoes endangering the health of people living there.
Commercialisation of residential areas is another issue bothering the residents. In market areas like South Extension, Green Park and Central Market, this problem is more rampant. Residents complained that the residential areas are being slowly converted into markets.
"The efforts of RWA have helped but a lot still needs to be done. Commercialisation of residential areas also creates problem of security for us as we don't know who is entering the locality," the Green Park resident said.
The constituencies in South Delhi are Greater Kailash, Palam, Mehrauli, Chhatarpur, Deoli, Ambedkar Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Kalkaji, Tughlakabad, Badarpur Malviya Nagar and RK Puram.
