• Venue shifted to Dasara expo parking lot on request from Mysore royal family
• 12 Dasara jumbos, 38 Mounted Police horses take part in the exercise

Mysore/Mysuru:  The second round of cannon firing exercise for Dasara elephants and horses to familiarise them with the loud sound of cannons was held successfully at the new venue — Dasara Expo parking lot on M.G. Road — this afternoon.

The cannon firing drill, which used to be held at the parking lot, near the Varaha Gate of Mysore Palace, was changed today following a request from the Mysore royal family as the huge compound wall of the Palace was developing cracks.

Out of the 14 Dasara elephants, 12 Dasara jumbos led by ‘Fearless’ Abhimanyu and 38 Mounted Police horses took part in the cannon firing drill today. As Lakshmi has given birth to a calf, she was relaxing in the Palace. Chaitra also did not take part in the exercise as she was giving company to Lakshmi.

All the 12 Dasara elephants, which were led through Jayamarthanda Gate of the Palace, entered the Dasara Exhibition Grounds through the main entrance and reached the parking lot where they were made to stand in a line. Thirty eight Mounted Police horses were also brought to the venue and were made to stand close to the elephants so that they could get used to the elephants and the elephants could get themselves familiarised with the horses.

As usual, 21 rounds were fired using seven cannons during which Parthasarathy, the youngest in the Dasara jumbo squad expressed a little fear in the first round but stood still during two more rounds. The rest of the Dasara elephants and Mounted Police horses remained calm  during the firing exercise.

Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Dr. V. Karikalan said that the second round of cannon firing drill was held successfully at Dasara Expo parking lot this afternoon.

Pointing out that the elephants did not budge or expressed fear to the cannon sound, which is a good development, the DCF said that the venue was changed on request from Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the Mysore Royal family.

Stating that Lakshmi cannot be left alone as she had given birth recently, Dr. Karikalan said that another female elephant Chaitra is left with Lakshmi for her company and hence Chaitra could not participate in today’s cannon firing drill.

When asked why Chaitra was chosen to be left with Lakshmi? the DCF said that as Lakshmi and Chaitra belong to the same elephant camp, they know each other well and hence Chaitra was left with Lakshmi.

City Armed Reserve (CAR) DCP Shivaraju, elephant caretakers, mahouts and kavadis and others were present.

The third round of cannon firing exercise will be held on Sept. 23 at the Dasara Expo parking lot on M.G. Road. 

KSPCB officials measure decibels produced by cannons

Officials from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) measuring the decibels produced by the booming sound of the cannons using the hand-held decibel measuring gadget. The sound was measured to see whether the booming sound is within the permissible limits.