Hunza hotel sealed after viral video reveals environmental harm

GILGIT: The power of social media in influencing policy was evident once again when a video by British content creator George Buckley led to government action against a private hotel in Hunza for alleged environmental violations.

On Monday, Buckley posted a video on his Instagram page – which has 151,000 followers – claiming that the hotel was discharging sewage directly into Attabad Lake. The footage showed a stark contrast between the resort’s murky brown wastewater and the lake’s turquoise-blue waters.

In the video, Buckley pointed out, “The beauty of Attabad Lake lies in its turquoise color, but if this continues, you can literally see the brown [discharge] spreading across the water.” He added, “Where we’re standing now, the wind is blowing toward us, and it smells bad.”

“We were actually here to make promotional content, but I can’t lie to my audience and pretend this isn’t an issue. It’s much more important to remain fully transparent and keep the trust with you guys,” he added in the comments section of his post.

In a social media post, the hotel dismissed the claims, attributing the issue to the confluence of two separately flowing water bodies. “The adjacent water streams coming from the mountains have natural sediments like mud, rocks, and minerals. When these turbid water streams mix with the blue lake water, this causes the muddy/cloudy appearance of the water seen near Luxus Hunza,” it added.

The hotel said that 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 wastewater into Attabad Lake,” it added.

As the video went viral on social media, the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government took notice and dispatched a team from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to inspect the site at Attabad Lake.

Following the inspection, the authorities sealed a section of the resort and fined its owner Rs1.5 million for non-compliance with environmental standards.

G-B EPA Director Khadim Hussain told HUM News English that the owner had been given a two-week deadline for correction. “It was not a big violation as the content creator propagated. We were here for 24 hours and thoroughly inspected the issue. We have sealed the portion of the hotel in question and imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 million. The violation was minor, and the owner has been given a time of 10 days to make corrective measures,” he added.

This was not the first time a famous hotel in the region had violated environmental laws. Earlier, on June 11, the EPA observed that PC Legacy Hotel, Nasir Abad, Hunza, was violating environmental approval conditions under the Establishment of Tourist Facilities at Ecologically Sensitive and Critical Areas Rules, 2024. During an inspection, it was noted that the hotel was involved in the improper and unhygienic disposal of brown and gray water originating from septic tanks, deteriorating the surrounding environment.

“The improper disposal of wastewater alongside the Karakoram Highway (KKH) is resulting in leakage and seepage into nearby commercial areas and the adjacent graveyard,” stated a notice issued by the agency. It added that the non-compliance was persistent despite earlier notices issued to rectify these issues.

The agency cited a recent fatal incident, resulting in the loss of a worker’s life, allegedly caused by the bad odour from the unhygienic sewerage system.

On June 13, the Skardu District administration and G-B EPA sealed a hotel in the Olding area over sewage seepage into Skardu’s primary water source. The G-B EPA advised all hotel owners to ensure strict compliance with environmental regulations, including obtaining mandatory approvals and implementing eco-friendly waste management systems. Non-compliance will result in immediate legal action.

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