Lokayukta inspects Sankey Tank after residents flag falling water level

Lokayukta officials inspect the Sankey Tank in Bengaluru on Tuesday. | Photo credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.

Lokayukta officers on Tuesday visited the Sankey Tank and inspected the inlets to the lake following complaints by citizen groups about the condition of the water body and its tributary system.

Lokayukta Chief Engineer BV Ramesh and Superintendent of Police Matesh Jidi inspected the lake along with engineers from Central City Corporation and BWSSB and also members of the ‘Voice of Sadashivanagar’.

Kadu President Malleshwara Geleyara Balaga and former Deputy Commissioner of Police BK Shivaram expressed concern over the lake’s tributary system and declining water level.

“No rainwater has flowed into the lake through the bays. Most of the bays are unscientifically constructed. The water level in Sankey Tank is depleting at an alarming rate, affecting the water table in and around Malleswaram,” he said.

The inspection comes months after residents and civic groups staged a “Save Sankey Tank” campaign in May that warned unscientific development work was affecting the lake’s natural hydrology.

Groups have raised concerns about concreting, sewage inflow, shrinking water spread and other environmentally damaging works. They also argued that raising the lake’s levee height by nearly two feet disrupted the natural tributary system because the feeder channel sank below the lake’s surface.

The altered levels, residents said, resulted in polluted water from the lake flowing back into the feeder canal instead of fresh water entering the lake, affecting groundwater recharge in Sadashivanagar, Malleswaram and Rajmahal Vilas.

Published – 8 Sep 2026 23:26 IST