Bengaluru Traffic Police will trial daily diversions at Madiwala from August 6, between 8 am and 10.30 am, to ease congestion and improve movement for public transport and ambulances. Vehicles travelling from Sarjapur Road Junction towards Madiwala Police Station Junction will be stopped at SP Road Junction. Vehicles coming from 100 Feet Road via Water Tank Junction and Ayyappa Junction towards Madiwala Police Station Junction will be stopped at Ayyappa Junction. Motorists from SP Road Junction to Madiwala Police Station Junction, and those coming from Water Tank Junction via Ayyappa Junction, should travel from SP Road Junction towards Hosur Main Road. The diversions respond to rising traffic volumes caused by vehicles entering Bengaluru via NH-44 from other states.

Madiwala Lake, a 500-acre waterbody in south Bengaluru, is nearly 90% covered by water hyacinth, fuelled by continuous sewage inflow. Residents report dying fish and a persistent sewage smell. Weed removal briefly improved the lake using an ISRO-borrowed machine and later a newly procured device, but weeds returned. Removal work has reportedly stopped because there is no designated place to dispose of the vegetation. The lake was transferred from the Karnataka Forest Department to GBA in November 2023. Untreated sewage continues to enter the lake. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board’s latest assessment found dissolved oxygen below 2 mg per litre. A May analysis of water samples from 15 Bengaluru locations also found pharmaceutical waste contamination in Madiwala Lake.

A weed removal machine, Rudra Aqua Max, underwent a trial run at 208-acre Madiwala Lake on Wednesday. The Bengaluru South City Corporation bought it for ₹1.28 crore; it can collect up to 5 tons and has live GPS tracking, safety sensors and cameras. Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao instructed officials to deploy it at other lakes as required.

Madiwala Lake is being developed at a cost of ₹15 crore. Work on a children’s play area, street lights, toilets and a bridge is underway. Boating has stopped; Rao asked officials to examine restarting it and developing the lake as a tourist destination. Part of Madiwala Lake Bund Road has been completed and opened to traffic.

The South City Corporation’s technical advisory committee met on Wednesday to discuss an underpass at Marenahalli Junction, Madiwala Lake development, junction upgrades and management of civic and public assets. Chaired by retired BBMP chief engineer S. Somasekhar, the committee said an underpass at Marenahalli Junction on 11th Main Road could ease growing traffic congestion and help vehicles arriving from Silk Board via the double-decker road.

More than 300 key locations and assets—including schools, hospitals, stadiums, commercial buildings and community halls—are being mapped using GPS-based geolocation. Digital maps will record each asset by ward, division and zone, with its area, building measurements, boundary markers and photographs available in software. Committee members Prof. Anjaneyappa, Dr. Shivakumar G. and chief engineer Basavaraj Kabade, along with Malathi, attended.

• The proposed 11.6-km elevated corridor would run from Swami Vivekananda Metro Station on Old Madras Road to Silk Board Junction, passing through Indiranagar, Domlur, Koramangala and Madiwala. Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE) is developing it.
• Residents, including the I Change Indiranagar group, have questioned the alignment, traffic data and consistency with Bengaluru’s Comprehensive Mobility Plan 2020, which does not specifically identify 80 Feet Road, 100 Feet Road or CMH Road for an elevated corridor. They seek more detailed studies of traffic, pedestrians and ground-level roads.
• The design includes elevated sections, ramps, existing flyovers and ground-level stretches. The DPR found tolling difficult because the corridor is fragmented and tollable traffic insufficient. It proposes value-capture financing from properties benefiting from improved connectivity; B-SMILE said this remains a draft mechanism and no property-owner levy has been imposed.
• The government aims to ease congestion and improve eastern-southern connectivity. The DPR says speeds can fall to 20–25 kmph and traffic is expected to rise significantly in coming decades. Residents seek clarity on impacts to infrastructure, pedestrians and neighbourhoods, and on alternatives and traffic below the corridor. Further studies, consultation and authority decisions will determine its progress.