Bhubaneswar: The construction of two additional galleries at the hockey stadium in the Kalinga Sports Complex has been expedited in view of the Men's Hockey World Cup scheduled to take place in November.

The addition of the two galleries will increase the seat count to 16,000 from the existing 9,000. An official of the state sports department said the deadline for construction of the north gallery was March, while the south gallery has an April deadline.

Earlier, the department had decided to pull down the swimming pool complex adjacent to the hockey stadium to pave way for construction of the additional galleries. The move had drawn severe criticism from swimmers and those using the facility.

A sports department official, however, said that a new swimming pool would come up in April.

"The construction of the two galleries must be completed before synthetic turf is relaid at the main stadium. Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has constituted a dedicated engineering unit to expedite execution of all work," he said.

The stadium had already hosted eight nations Champions Trophy in 2014 and was home venue of Kalinga Lancers in the Hockey India League (HIL) for the past four seasons beginning 2014. The stadium also hosted the Men's Hockey World League Final in December last year.

The state government is hopeful that 20,000 to 25,000 foreign tourists will visit the city during the world cup.

The sports department had earlier fixed October as the deadline for completion of all tournament-related work. The roads in the sports complex will also be widened and a food court and recreation hall built for the World Cup.