<p>Famous for the narrow roads winding down the hilly terrain, Mahalakshmi Layout has the contrasting issues of water scarcity and flooding.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The area is sandwiched between Peenya Industrial area and a cluster of residential neighbourhoods. The excessive traffic is something the slim roads can barely withstand.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The incumbent K Gopalaiah is confident that he would win again. The JD(S) candidate wrested the seat from the then Congress nominee, N L Narendra Babu.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Being a Vokkaliga, Gopalaiah has the support among his caste, while he also has a good equation with the Telugu-speaking Naidus, the other major community in the segment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Babu, who lost to Gopalaiah by a margin of 15,370 votes in 2013, is contesting as a BJP candidate after switching camps last year after accusing the Congress of sidelining him.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Babu hopes to ride on the BJP wave and “raise issues that were ignored despite reminders”.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The constituency has got Rs 450 crore as development funds, which didn’t change anything,” he said. “Wasteful expenditure and shoddy work have denied people any benefits.”</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Tough challenge</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">The Congress has fielded a 28-year-old political greenhorn H S Manjunath, state NSUI president, who has a tough challenge in the hustings.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Residents in Nandini Layout, Kurubarahalli and Mahalakshmipura admitted to <span class="italic">DH</span> that water supply has been relatively better, though things would be back to worse in the summer.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bheema Raju B G, a resident who works with Citizens for Bengaluru and Bangalore Political Action Committee, said leaders should look at comprehensive development instead of cosmetic changes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Rainwater harvesting should be a must to avoid the flood menace, which claimed five people last year. Garbage processing plants are yet to become a reality. The one that has come up has not been functional,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In October, a priest died after slipping into a stormwater drain in Kurubarahalli.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Krishna Murthy, neighbor of the victim Vasu, said the work to cover the drain began a fortnight after the tragedy, but is yet to be completed. The drain was open at least in two places when <span class="italic">DH</span> inspected it on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the lower middleclass and poor neighbourhoods, basic amenities were lacking. “Politicians come and go, but we’re yet to get water and roads,” M Mahesh, a Dalit leader from Kanteerava Nagar, said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mahesh said garbage collected in the layout is discarded near the slum area and leaders ignored the persistent protests against the menace.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While Gopalaiah and Babu acknowledged the issue, they attributed the delay in solving it to the land ownership that stalls development activities.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gopalaiah assured that the stormwater drain will be permanently lidded in two years’ time.</p>
<p>Famous for the narrow roads winding down the hilly terrain, Mahalakshmi Layout has the contrasting issues of water scarcity and flooding.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The area is sandwiched between Peenya Industrial area and a cluster of residential neighbourhoods. The excessive traffic is something the slim roads can barely withstand.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The incumbent K Gopalaiah is confident that he would win again. The JD(S) candidate wrested the seat from the then Congress nominee, N L Narendra Babu.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Being a Vokkaliga, Gopalaiah has the support among his caste, while he also has a good equation with the Telugu-speaking Naidus, the other major community in the segment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Babu, who lost to Gopalaiah by a margin of 15,370 votes in 2013, is contesting as a BJP candidate after switching camps last year after accusing the Congress of sidelining him.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Babu hopes to ride on the BJP wave and “raise issues that were ignored despite reminders”.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“The constituency has got Rs 450 crore as development funds, which didn’t change anything,” he said. “Wasteful expenditure and shoddy work have denied people any benefits.”</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Tough challenge</strong></p>.<p class="bodytext">The Congress has fielded a 28-year-old political greenhorn H S Manjunath, state NSUI president, who has a tough challenge in the hustings.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Residents in Nandini Layout, Kurubarahalli and Mahalakshmipura admitted to <span class="italic">DH</span> that water supply has been relatively better, though things would be back to worse in the summer.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bheema Raju B G, a resident who works with Citizens for Bengaluru and Bangalore Political Action Committee, said leaders should look at comprehensive development instead of cosmetic changes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Rainwater harvesting should be a must to avoid the flood menace, which claimed five people last year. Garbage processing plants are yet to become a reality. The one that has come up has not been functional,” he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In October, a priest died after slipping into a stormwater drain in Kurubarahalli.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Krishna Murthy, neighbor of the victim Vasu, said the work to cover the drain began a fortnight after the tragedy, but is yet to be completed. The drain was open at least in two places when <span class="italic">DH</span> inspected it on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the lower middleclass and poor neighbourhoods, basic amenities were lacking. “Politicians come and go, but we’re yet to get water and roads,” M Mahesh, a Dalit leader from Kanteerava Nagar, said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mahesh said garbage collected in the layout is discarded near the slum area and leaders ignored the persistent protests against the menace.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While Gopalaiah and Babu acknowledged the issue, they attributed the delay in solving it to the land ownership that stalls development activities.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Gopalaiah assured that the stormwater drain will be permanently lidded in two years’ time.</p>