The special purpose vehicle executing the smart city projects here has started an online contest, taking part in which may fetch one a free ticket to watch the Men’s Hockey World Cup scheduled next month at Kalinga Stadium.

The contest has been thrown open on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, where the smart city officials have put a few questions, answering which people will be able to get a free ticket for the tournament.

The questions are mostly related to the public services and facilities of Bhubaneswar.

In one such question, Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL), the special purpose vehicle, on its Twitter handle, says: “#ContestAlert: Answer this simple question and win free tickets to the upcoming #HockeyWorldCup2018 !! What according to you is an ideal definition of open spaces in #Bhubaneswar? Share your ideas in the comment box below”

The tweet has got several replies under it. One of the users, Pragyan Bharti, states: “Spaces uncluttered with concrete structures but naturally growing trees, vegetation and water bodies. Spaces where nature is in full flow serving as a habitat for other fellow creatures, where city denizens feel connected to mother nature.”

In another such tweet, the BSCL asks: “#ContestAlert: Share your ideas in the comment section & win tickets to the upcoming #HockeyWorldCup2018 ! Parks of #Bhubaneswar are adopting new & smart facilities like OpenAirGym, skating rink, acupressure walkways, etc. What other features do you want to see in the city parks.”

To this, a twitterite, Vivek Jyoti Tripathy, writes: “Smart light show. Cute and beautiful light arrangements which are instagram worthy with interactive lights. It will mke the parks itself a tourist spot and must visit place in india. Even you can have light projections on trees so that it looks like sceen. I hve loads of ideas.”

Mayor Ananta Naryan Jena said the online contest was an initiative to garner residents’ support to improve the city infrastructure and get them to the stadium to witness the grand sports event. “Other agencies will also take similar steps to get the citizens into the event,” said Jena.

In a third tweet, the BSCL states: “#ContestAlert: Answer this simple question & win free tickets to the #HockeyWorldCup2018 ! Have you been to any park in #Bhubaneswar? Which park you love spending time & feel like visiting again? And why? Share your answer in the comment.”

“It is a good move of the administration to popularise and brand the sports event in such a manner. This will not only increase the footfall to the stadium during the world cup but also help the administration get the opinions of the capital residents about different services of the city,” said Rasulgarh resident Ananya Mohapatra.