The quality of water was not very good and when the Governor of Madras visited Bangalore in July 1888, a local wit commented, "The men who are thrown off their horses and killed on the spot at Bangalore are the only ones that are allowed by doctors not to have died from drinking bad water".

The threats posed to the survival of the lake, which were also identified by the local people using the lake, scientific experts and bureaucrats, include:[6]These threats have resulted in: The tank was converted into a park by the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) with funds provided by the Government of Karnataka.

But the Court was informed by the Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BMP) that it had not sanctioned any plan for the proposed building and that it would take immediate action to prevent any such steps by the developer taken without a no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

[8] The Lok Adalat ordered the Forest Department to repossess 0.52 ha (1.3 acres) of land belonging to it from the real estate developers who had set out to build an apartment block there.

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) informed the court that the proposal of Abhishek Builders and Mantri Developers to build an 18–floor luxury apartment block near the Sankey Tank has been turned down as gross violations were noted under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.