This is the vision two of the best architects in the city have of the neglected Gandhi Ashram, presently identified more with barren land, mosquito-ravaged sound and light shows and a dung-covered Dandi Pul. As per the plans drawn up by architects B V Doshi and Yatin Pandya, which have been submitted to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the idea is to develop the neglected 86-acre Sabarmati Ashram into an active, socio-cultural node throbbing with life for the city and possibly a world centre based on Gandhian ideals and ideas.

And the good news is the corporation seems keen on implementing the project. According to Mayor Maliniben Atit, work will begin as soon as the development plan submitted by the AMC to the Government is cleared. ``We are committed to the cause and are ready to make as much budget allocation as is needed for Gandhi Ashram,'' she said. ``We have frozen all major construction in the Gandhi Ashram area. Once the development plan comes through, work will begin on the first step, which is linking Ashram Road to the 132-feet ring road, so that the heavy traffic which passes through the ashram premises can be diverted around it. We are committed to development of the ashram,'' adds Deputy Municipal Commissioner M K Das.

According to the plan submitted by Pandya, an ideal Gandhian village and craft/cottage industry will come up in the ashram area right next to Subhash Bridge. This would have an ashram, a gaushala, dwelling units for artisans who would work in khadi, hand-made paper, leather and other industries within the campus, along with workshop clusters. Further down the road there would be tourist offices, a library, and facilities for tourists to get bookings done, besides arrangements for holding seminars and conferences.

On the other side of the road in the area that is barren, Doshi and Pandya propose a Gandhian Institute of Leadership Management, Gandhi Peace Foundation, trust, a yoga institute, primary and secondary schools. Close by there would be provision for residential accomodation cottages, guest house, dormitories and staff quarters. The Smriti Sangrahalaya itself and the venue of the sound and light show is proposed to be developed further with a multi-media cell addition, an exhibition of the lavatories suggested by Gandhi, tableaux and an exhibition on the freedom struggle.

An apex trust was formed in July 1999, comprising one member from each of the eight trusts that presently manage the ashram. This trust would be the deciding authority for all the planned construction. The corporation is believed to be looking at a one-month time frame before the plan is approved and work can begin. Though Das was reluctant to make a commitment on that, he explained the basic idea was to let the present road, which cuts across the ashram, remain open only for pedestrians and light vehicles so that the sanctity of the place could be preserved.

If the plan comes through, work on restructuring the ashram will actually begin nearly five years after the brief was first submitted by the Vastu-Shilp Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design. ``We prepared the note in September 1995. Our interest in reviving the ashram is that it is a place of historic and national significance and it should not be allowed to waste away. Our view was that it should not just be conserved because it is the Gandhi Ashram, but also because it is an important social node of the city,'' says Pandya.

``We have also suggested residential guest houses, cottages and dormitories, a park developed on the river front, and cleaning up and beautification of the dirty water nallah that passes through the Chandrabhaga under the Dandi Pul, says Pandya. If the project is realised, the city will have a prime tourist attraction and revenue generating site. Around 86.84 hectares of area that would comprise the Gandhi Ashram, the Jalvihar area proposed by the AMC in its development plan and a garden and picnic house, also proposed by the AMC in the same plan. And more importantly, a new lease of life for the decaying ashram.