Cuttack: The city’s rich maritime heritage and the 150-year journey of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) will be the highlights of the ‘Cuttack-in-Cuttack’ pavilion at this year’s Baliyatra.The pavilion will offer visitors an immersive experience of the city’s glorious past, cultural traditions and evolving identity, while tracing the civic body’s journey since its establishment in 1876, said collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde, who visited the fairground on Saturday to review preparations ahead of the inauguration by President Droupadi Murmu on Nov 24.He added all arrangements would be completed by Nov 22.The CMC will showcase its 150-year journey through a dedicated pavilion featuring several thematic attractions. A special historic tunnel, named ‘From Cuttack to Kataka’, will take visitors through the municipal corporation’s transformation over the past 150 years. The exhibition will feature miniature representations of iconic landmarks, including the Clock Tower and the library, alongside a showcase of the civic body’s achievements. A dedicated filigree gate and zone will highlight Cuttack’s renowned silver craftsmanship.An ‘Odia Asmita – Asmita Alaya’ zone will pay tribute to Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das and Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das. Visitors will also get to explore a miniature of Utkal Tannery and an LED-lit gallery showcasing eminent personalities from Cuttack and their contributions.The pavilion will blend heritage with technology through an augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) experience zone.A dedicated children’s festival, LED walk zone, mehndi zone and a special space for women — Red Box Zone — will add to the attractions.Shinde said enforcement of the plastic ban would be stricter this year. Vendors will not be allowed to use plastic bags, containers or any other packaging. Plastic bottles brought by visitors would be collected for recycling.Last year, around 250 quintals of plastic water bottles were recycled by the civic body.To ensure vendors have access to alternatives, the administration has signed an MoU with ORMAS-Mayurbhanj, which will set up a stall offering plates, containers and packaging materials made entirely of Sal leaves.“Last year, too, we enforced the plastic ban. However, with the crowds swelling, vendors could not immediately source environment-friendly packaging materials and resorted to using plastic,” Shinde said.The administration is also working to address mobile network issues that affected digital payments at the fairground last year.Shinde said there would be considerable improvement; however, permanent solutions to the problem would be taken up under the Mahanadi riverfront development plan.To ease traffic congestion, parking facilities will be arranged at 14 to 15 locations around the Baliyatra grounds.