Local authorities in Gilgit-Baltistan have taken prompt action against a private hotel on the banks of the picturesque Attabad Lake after a foreign travel vlogger’s viral video went viral.
Environmental concerns and a social media uproar have been sparked by the hotel’s alleged serious discharge of untreated sewage into the lake’s pristine waters.
The dispute started when vlogger and travel influencer George Buckley went to Attabad Lake and posted a video alleging that the hotel in question was contaminating the lake.
He suggested sewage discharge as the cause by pointing to a bad odor and a brownish tint in some areas of the water.
Additionally, Buckley mentioned a local who told him about the purported contamination.
As the video quickly gained popularity, citizens, tourists, and environmentalists became incensed and called for prompt government action.
In response, the deputy commissioner of Hunza and the director of the Environment Department of Gilgit-Baltistan unexpectedly inspected the hotel.
Following the visit, the hotel was fined Rs1.5 million and rooms with damaged manholes were sealed by the administration.
Additionally, authorities sent out a notice directing hotel management to upgrade the sewage system in compliance with ecological and environmental standards within a week.
The hotel responded to the criticism by vehemently refuting the claims on Instagram Stories.
According to the resort, natural glacial silt, not pollution, was the cause of the lake’s brownish tint.
“A recent video that is making the rounds online falsely claims that our hotel, Luxus Hunza, is dumping sewage into the lake. We vehemently refute these unfounded accusations. The statement said, “This is a grave misinterpretation of natural phenomena.”
