Campaign helps city residents battle lockdown blues

Bhubaneswar Development Authority

(BDA) and

Bhubaneswar.Me

have come up with an online series of activities,

Lockdown Squad

, to keep residents of the capital city engaged during the extended lockdown. Several experts from different segments have been showcasing their creative skills on an online platform to inspire denizens as part of the campaign.

The series kickstarted a week ago and now, the organisers are planning to rope in a few online sensations like popular Odisha-born rapper,

Big Deal

and national-level television cooking reality show winner,

Abhinas Nayak

from the state over the next week along with Odissi dance guru Ileana Citaristi.

Apart from artist Shyam Kumar and tea sommelier Avinash Pattnaik, the campaign has featured Neelima Mishra,

Samar Nayak

,

Sophia Simon

, Chef Rachit, Urja Bhuyan,

Pankaja Sethi

,

Sujit Mahapatra

and

Akash Baghar

. “Since the lockdown has been extended and we noticed that people are getting bored and tense, we thought of creating a series featuring people from different segments who can reach out and engage with the community,” said Sophia Simon, one of the initiators of the idea.