Gilgit-Baltistan government has imposed a fine of Rs1.5 million on a hotel for allegedly releasing sewage into Attabad Lake, after a video posted by British tourist and social media influencer George Buckley.
In the video, uploaded on Instagram, Buckley alleged that a local had told him untreated waste water was being dumped into the lake. He captured visually opaque water and was concerned about the source of the water.
The clip rapidly took off on all social networking sites, and there was public outrage, which forced an official reaction.
The hotel in question released a statement refuting the allegations, saying that it has been working alongside Attabad Lake for six years and would never contaminate it. “Spewing out sewage would be like dirtying up our own home,” the hotel added.
The hotel said the muddy water observed in the video is produced by natural stream runoff with mud, rocks, and minerals. The runoff, they explained, forms a confluence where clearer water from the lake intersects with highly turbid stream water, producing a cloudy effect.
Buckley was still not impressed. In a subsequent comment, he objected that the hotel had not produced an up-to-date environmental inspection report. He said that all they had provided was a July 2021 document and reported a very pungent sewage smell around the property that could not be explained by normal silt runoff.
