RAWALPINDI, Dec 15: The National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) is all set to conduct a second study to find a suitable site for the establishment of $20 million sewage treatment plant after a provincial minister objected to the installation of the treatment plant at an already proposed site near Soan river.

"Nespak will launch its study at the end of this month and will complete it within two months," Managing Director Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Aslam Ali Sabzwari told Dawn on phone from Lahore where he attended a meeting of the planning and development department held in this connection.

During the meeting, it was decided that all possible options must be properly studied before selecting any site for the establishment of the treatment plant, he said.

In response to a question, Mr Sabzwari said the Nespak team would study the feasibility of four options - two near Adiala Road and two along Nullah Leh. About the 120 hectares site near Soan river proposed by Nespak during its study conducted earlier this year, he said if the study again found the site as the most suitable then the plant could be established there as well.

Punjab Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Basharat Raja, he said, had directed the shifting of the treatment plant to another location after the owners of the land, which was to be acquired for the project, refused to hand over their land.

Talking about the design options of the plant, he said there were three options and they would opt for the one that was less expensive. Elaborating, he said, there was the Stabilization Pond (Sludge Digestion Process) option which was less expensive but it needed 1,000-1200 acres. The other two alternatives included the Mechanical (Oxidation Plant) and the Semi-Mechanical plant.