Pakistan bans new hotel construction around tourist lakes

GILGIT (AFP): Pakistan will ban for five years the construction of new hotels around picturesque lakes in the north that attract tens of thousands of tourists each year, a government agency said.

Unregulated construction of hotels and guest houses in Gilgit-Baltistan – which boasts around 13,000 glaciers, more than any other country on Earth outside the polar regions – has sparked major concerns about environmental degradation.

The natural beauty of the region has made it a top tourist destination, with towering peaks looming over the Old Silk Road, and a highway transporting tourists between cherry orchards, glaciers, and ice-blue lakes.

However, in recent years construction has exploded led by companies from outside the region, straining water and power resources, and increasing waste.

“If we let them construct hotels at such pace, there will be a forest of concrete,” Khadim Hussain, a senior official at the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Authority told AFP on Friday.

“People don’t visit here to see concrete; people come here to enjoy natural beauty,” he added.

Last month, a foreign tourist posted a video on Instagram – which quickly went viral – alleging wastewater was being discharged by a hotel into Lake Attabad, which serves as a freshwater source for Hunza.

The next day, authorities fined the hotel more than $5,000. Asif Sakhi, a political activist and resident of the Hunza Valley, welcomed the ban.

“We have noticed rapid changes in the name of tourism and development,” he said, adding hotel construction was “destroying our natural lakes and rivers”.

Shah Nawaz, a hotel manager and local resident of the valley, also praised the ban, saying he believes “protecting the environment and natural beauty is everyone’s responsibility”.