HUNZA (Kashmir English): The Gilgit-Baltistan administration on Tuesday fined the Luxus Hunza hotel Rs1.5 million for allegedly dumping sewage waste into Attabad Lake in Hunza.
The action was taken on a complaint made by a foreign tourist alleging that waste from the hotel was being dumped into the lake.
The development came a day after a foreign tourist and vlogger, George Buckley, posted a video on his Instagram page, claiming that sewage water was being pumped out by the hotel into the Attabad Lake
As the video went viral, sparking outrage, a team from the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the deputy commissioner of Hunza conducted a surprise inspection of the hotel on the banks of Attabad Lake.
Following the visit, the agency took action and sealed a large part of the hotel, consisting of 30 rooms, from which the sewage water had entered the lake.
Authorities also issued a notice instructing the hotel management to upgrade its sewage system within a week in accordance with ecological and environmental standards.
However, the private hotel dismissed the claims in a social media post today, saying, “This lake has been home for us for the last six years.”
The post also said that the muddy appearance of the water near the hotel was due to adjacent water streams carrying mud, rocks and minerals, which mixed with the lake water.
“This phenomenon is known as confluence, where two separately flowing water bodies meet. If one of the water bodies is high in turbidity, then this causes a muddy/cloudy water surface at the point of confluence.”
