KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Local social activists in Pakistan’s northern Hunza Valley are demanding strict action against hotels operating around Attabad Lake for failing to meet environmental standards, after a video by a foreign vlogger alleging untreated sewage discharge into the lake went viral on social media this week.
Attabad Lake was formed in 2010 when a massive landslide blocked the Hunza River, killing 20 people and submerging villages and a stretch of the strategic Karakoram Highway that links Pakistan to China. Over the years, the lake has become a major tourist attraction, driving a boom in hotel construction along its banks.
Following the viral video by travel vlogger George Buckley, officials from the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency (GBEPA) and local administration inspected the hotel’s premises and sewage facilities on Tuesday.
“We have fined Rs 1.5 million ($5,300) on [Luxus Hunza Attabad Lake Resort] hotel after the inspection,” Khadim Hussain, a director at the EPA, confirmed to Arab News.
“A portion of the resort has been sealed for the period of three months. And if they don’t develop a waste treatment plan within the stipulated period of time, the [whole] facility will be sealed and imposed more fines.”
