Cuttack, Sept. 13: The municipal corporation here will develop the Gandhi Smruti Peetha as a major tourist stop. The civic body has decided to renovate the heritage structure located at Telengapentha, on the outskirts of the city, shortly.

The Gandhi Smruti Peetha is considered a sacred place since the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had spent a night here in 1934, while touring Odisha.

"We will convene a meeting to finalise proposals and projects that will be taken up for the all-round development of the Gandhi Smruti Peetha in a phased manner next week," said municipal commissioner Gyana Das.

An official source said the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) is also contemplating giving a heritage look to the building by installing a charkha (spinning wheel), rare photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and other interesting information through various audio-visual means at the interpretation centre here.

The interpretation centre was built with a budget of Rs 1.5 crore in 2014 after chief minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone for the development of the Gandhi Smruti Peetha in 2011.

The building for the interpretation centre along with a library project is almost ready and the civic body plans to complete the pending interior and other civil works by October.

Earlier, the district administration had entrusted the CMC with the job for the facelift of the site, which was mismanaged for a long time.

The process of transferring the plot of Gandhi Smruti Peetha to the civic body for ensuring proper implementation of the proposed beautification project has almost reached its final stages.

At present, the land is recorded in the name of the block development officer of Cuttack Sadar.

"We hope the CMC comes up with a comprehensive plan for infusing life to this place by setting up basic infrastructure, including drinking water facilities and proper seating arrangements," said Ramesh Pradhan, a visitor.

Councillor Pramod Mohapatra said a few parts of the eight acres of land of Gandhi Smruti Peetha had been encroached upon and steps would be taken to evict the squatters.

"The work for measurement and demarcation of the actual land of the Gandhi Smruti Peetha will be taken up," said Mohapatra.

Mohapatra said the park development project would be taken up under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 42 lakh.