Bhubaneswar, Sept. 15: The Naveen Patnaik government today dedicated 1,100 check dams on rivers across Odisha after coming under flak for ignoring the irrigation sector and its inability to build any major projects on the Mahanadi river system in the past 15 years.

Dedicating the projects to farmers, the Odisha chief minister said: "I hope these check dams will benefit the farmers in increasing their production." He also announced that 10 lakh hectares would be brought under irrigation by 2019 and water would be provided to 2.57 lakh hectares by the end of this current fiscal.

Naveen also met representatives of 115 organisations, including the Odisha Petrol and Diesel Employees' Association, Odisha Auto Drivers' Association, Bhubaneswar Truck Owners' Association and the East Coast Breweries Employees' Union, and received their opinions on what the state's stand should be at the tripartite meeting to be held in New Delhi on September 17 on the Mahanadi water river dispute. Union water resources minister Uma Bharati will preside over the meeting in which Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik will be present to resolve the dispute.

Naveen dedicated the dam projects through videoconferencing from the secretariat as he chalked out his strategy for the Delhi meeting.

Odisha has a cultivated land of 61.65 lakh hectares. "We have assessed that 49.90 lakh hectares can be brought under irrigation coverage through major, medium and minor (flow and lift) irrigation projects. By 2015, the state government had provided water to 34.86 lakh hectares. We will continue to put effort to bring more land under irrigation," said a senior official.

Water resources secretary P.K. Jena said: "Nearly 112 blocks, especially under Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Nuapada, Balangir, Deogarh and Sundargarh, are still under less than 35 per cent irrigation. We have decided to build at least 4,000 check dams a year."

The Odisha government also said that since 2010, the water resources department had built 8,700 check dams. Other departments, including the agriculture, panchayati raj and the SC and ST, have built 12,500 check dams to provide irrigation facilities to farmers.

However, Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra made a scathing attack on the government, saying it should refrain from hoodwinking people. Mishra told The Telegraph: "The chief minister thinks that everybody is a fool. You can fool people for some days, but you cannot befool all the people for all the days."

He also cited the example of how the government had misled the people on the issue of inauguration of a mega irrigation project on the Tel river. "The work is still on, but we have been told the project has been completed," he said.

Mishra said it was the time to check whether there was actually water in all the check dams or the government had just released their photos to mislead the people.

BJP state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said: "The Odisha government is on the back foot on the Mahanadi issue, and now it has come out with a plan to divert the people's attention. If Odisha has so many check dams, why there was acute drought last year?"

While social organisations and various political party leaders today made a queue to the secretariat to submit their suggestions to Naveen on the Mahanadi issue, the BJP said the government was not keen to resolve the dispute.

BJP state president Basant Panda said: "The Naveen Patnaik government is least interest in resolving the issue. It is out of political compulsion that the chief minister is seeking suggestions of various persons."

Panda said that before seeking opinions, the government should make its stand clear on the issue and share all information on the Mahanadi controversy with the people.

BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said: "The government is committed to protect the interests of the people and fully prepared for the Delhi meeting."