Bhubaneswar, May 27: The state government today directed officials to expedite the land acquisition process for major irrigation projects and complete the ongoing projects on priority basis.

The direction was issued at a high level meeting, chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, to review the progress of six major irrigation projects.

The projects under review were Subarnarekha inter-state irrigation project, Rengali left and right canal, Upper Indravati extension project, Indra, Kanupur, Suktel and Anandpur barrage project.

It emerged from the review that construction of Jambhira right canal, Chandili dam and Galudih barrage of Subarnarekha inter-state irrigation project were complete. Ninety-five per cent construction work of Galudih right canal was over while the work on distribution system was still on.

The Upper Indravati extension project, which started in 2009, had provided irrigation facilities to 2,500 hectares of agricultural land during 2010 kharif season. The work on Sagada acqueduct and Kusumkhunti branch canal is going on. When completed, it would create irrigation potential for 16,150 hectares of land. Tender process has started for creation of irrigation potential for another 6,834 hectares.

Construction of dam and dyke of Lower Indra inrrigation project having irrigation capacity of 29,000 hectares has been complete. Ninety per cent construction of right main canal and 75 per cent of left main canal has been over, informed officers of the water resources department, adding that the construction of the two canals was expected to be complete by March 2012, and June 2013, respectively.

Similarly, the construction of Rengali left and right canal is under progress and, when completed, these two canals will provide irrigation to 29,176 hectares and 20,600 hectares, respectively.

Construction of dam of Kanupur irrigation project has been complete by 55 per cent while 12 per cent of spillway work is over. The project is expected to be complete by June 2015.

The survey and alignment work of Anandpur barrage and Lower Suketel project are going on, informed the officials. Naveen directed the officials to expedite completion of these ongoing major irrigation projects, which can provide irrigation facilities to more agricultural land.

Earlier, chief secretary Bijay Patnaik, while chairing a high-level review meeting on May 24, had directed the irrigation officials and engineers to complete ongoing projects on time, which could help in achieving the government target for creating irrigation potential for at least 35 per cent cultivable land.

A target had been set to provide irrigation to one lakh hectares of cultivable land by the end of 2012.

The chief secretary had asked the water resources secretary to fix yearly targets for all the executive engineers and assess their performances on the basis of achievement of their target.