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.”
He added: “The action against the hotels that are not complying [with] environmental standards continues in the region before the video of a foreign vlogger.”
Residents say pollution caused by unchecked hotel expansion is now threatening Attabad Lake’s clear blue water, which draws thousands of tourists every year.
“Solid waste is becoming a big issue in the surrounding areas of Attabad Lake and especially on river banks due to the construction of hotels,” Shahid Hussain, a local social activist and politician, told Arab News by phone.
“When the level of the water [in the lake] increases during summer, the level of sewage waste in soakage pits also rises and merges into the lake. This is deteriorating the natural beauty of Attabad Lake.”
He stressed:
“The environmental protection authority has fined one hotel. And this is not a permanent solution. The administration and EPA should give a proper mechanism to protect nature and clean water.”
Another activist, Zahoor Ilahi, echoed the call for tougher enforcement.
“Initially, when locals started to build miniature resorts and hotels, the municipal and district administration teased the locals in the name of NOC [No Objection Certificate],” he said.
“Later big investors came to the region and built big hotels, and there is no treatment plant for sewage waste. If the [Luxus] hotel has no treatment plan, then the whole resort should be sealed instead of imposing a fine on them.”
Ilahi warned that untreated wastewater could also threaten local drinking water projects:
“A project is underway to supply drinking water from Attabad Lake for central Hunza under a federal PSDP project. So, the protection of clean water is very much needed. If the government fails to protect the clean water, it will multiply the miseries of locals.”
In a Facebook post, the Luxus Resort rejected the allegations.
“Attabad Lake formed in 2010. Before Luxus Hunza opened its doors to tourists in 2019, no one had experienced this majestic lake up close. This lake has been home for us for the last six years. It is the reason and purpose of our existence. To dump sewage water into the lake would be like desecrating our own house. We have never nor will we ever dump a single liter of waste water into Attabad Lake,” the hotel management said.
It added that the cloudy appearance of the lake near the hotel was due to natural sediment from mountain streams mixing with the clear lake water, not sewage discharge.
Arab News attempted to contact a representative of Luxus Hotel Hunza for further comment but did not receive a response by the time of filing this report.
