The Gilgit-Baltistan administration on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs1.5 million on a hotel for allegedly dumping sewage waste into Hunza’s Attabad Lake.
The development came a day after a foreign tourist and vlogger named George Buckley posted a video on his Instagram page, claiming that sewage water was being pumped out by the hotel into the Attabad Lake
In the video, Buckley could be seen standing next to the lake with a friend and saying: “We found out some information through a local that the sewage is actually being pumped into the water.”
The tourist also showed muddy water being mixed into the lake.
The post gained significant traction on social media, prompting a response from the hotel.
The hotel dismissed the claims in a social media post today, saying, “This lake has been home for us for the last six years.”
“… To dump sewage water into the lake would be like desecrating our own house. We have never nor will we ever dump a single litre of wastewater into Attabad Lake.”
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.”
Buckley responded in the comments section of the hotel’s video, saying, “The only document you have provided to me and the public that looks into this environmental issue was the report from July 2021.
“I’ve asked 3 times to see an inspection report after that date conducted by the EPA and local government (which was suggested to be done quarterly in the 2021 report), yet you have provided nothing over the last 17 hours since I asked the first time.”
He also said that the property smelled “badly of sewage”, adding, “Nothing that a natural occurrence like the silt runoff would create, not even close.”
GB Environment Department Director Khadim Hussain told Dawn.com that the administration had taken action against the hotel on a complaint made by a foreign tourist alleging that waste from the hotel was being dumped into the lake.
He said, “The administration has imposed a fine of Rs1.5 million and sealed a large part of the hotel consisting of 30 rooms from where the sewage water had entered the lake.”
According to Hussain, after the video went viral on the internet, the GB chief secretary took immediate action and sought a report from the Hunza deputy commissioner, resulting in a 15-member team inspecting Attabad Lake today.
Hussain said there was “evidence that water pollution had been found when human waste from the hotel entered the lake”.
He added: “The hotel administration was repairing the sewage line at the time when the waste had entered the lake, but there was no major pollution. The fine was imposed on the hotel for negligence.”
He said that a report will be sent to the chief secretary on Wednesday to decide further steps, adding that the matter will be heard at the magistrate’s court for legal proceedings.
He further said that “strict action was taken against the hotel in October 2024 for causing water pollution.”
Speaking to Dawn.com, Hunza journalist Alamgir Hussain said that the locals have protested several times against the hotel for allegedly causing “severe pollution in the lake”.
“But due to its effectiveness, the administration has been avoiding action,” he alleged.
Hussain said that hotels and buildings cannot be legally constructed on the banks of the lake.
“The laws in this regard are also clear, but the administration is helpless before the hotel administration. If foreign tourists had not pointed it out, there would have been no action,” he said.
