Baltistan | Pakistan

Gilgit-Baltistan has imposed a moratorium on all kinds of construction and expansion of hotels on three famous lakes in Hunza, as well as in ecologically-sensitive areas in the Baltistan division, it emerged on Monday. Earlier this month, the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency (GB-EPA) recommended a five-year ban on the construction and expansion of hotels on three lakes in Hunza. Last month, the GB administration imposed a fine of Rs1.5 million on a hotel for allegedly dumping sewage waste into Attabad Lake. The development came a day after a foreign tourist and vlogger named George Buckley posted a video on his Instagram page, claiming that sewage water was being pumped out by the hotel into the Attabad Lake. A notification by the office of the Hunza Division Deputy Commissioner, dated July 11, available with Dawn.com, said, “Accordingly, issuance of any new no-objection certificates (NOCs) for construction or expansion of commercial or residential structures is hereby suspended with immediate...