Kapra Lake, or the Kapra Pedda Cheruvu as it was originally recorded in the Revenue Department's records (78° 33' 30", 17° 30' 00") is a restored tank with a recorded spread of 112 acres and 7 Guntas (44.87 hectares). It spreads roughly north–south on the eastern phalanx of Sainikpuri. A decade back this lake was deemed pristine and pollution free. It is however now marked as polluted and susceptible to encroachments by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, thanks to the growing industrialization in the vicinity and dumping of garbage from the nearby residential colonies. A part of the Kapra Lake stands encroached for the past few years, and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation recently listed 25 structures as encroachments of the Karpra Lake liable for demolition, including Sri Venkateshwara Temple. Sill Level (SL) of the sluice of the Kapra Lake stands recorded as +547.873 Meters, Full Tank Level (FTL) as +550.854 Meters, Maximum Water Level (MWL) as +551.614 Meters, and its Tank Bund Level (TBL) as +553.584 Meters. Length of its bund is measured at 1254 Meters. As of now, out of the original 50 FTL pillars fixed by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Hyderabad Lake Management Circle of the Irrigation Department, 13 pillars stand disturbed and removed by the encroachers. Efforts are underway to re-fix the missing pillars in order to prevent further encroachments. There are two feeder channels, two sluices, and two surplus courses for the Kapra Lake, this lake being part of a chain of water bodies, wherein the surplus course of the upper water body flows down into the lower water body. Thus, the Kapra Lake is intimately linked in the chain to the Banda Cheruvu of Malkajgiri, the Annanarayan Cheruvu of Nagaram, and the Yadi Bai Gunta of Yellareddy Guda. As a part of the citizens' initiative to protect the Kapra Lake, a rudimentary Lake Protection Body has been formed. But it has largely remained ineffective due to the muscle power of the encroachers and increasing political interference. The SL, FTL, MWL and TBL of the Kapra Lake were measured, and fixed under the ANDHRA PRADESH WATER, LAND AND TREES ACT – 2002 in the year 2005. Attempts were made by some encroachers to get the officially recorded levels altered in the garb of "re-constructing the bund and the sluices" (on the inner side of the existing bund and the sluices, thus shrinking the lake), but were thwarted by the vigilant citizen-activists.
