Mysuru: With all the 12 Dasara elephants arriving at the Mysuru Palace courtyard, as many as 12 CCTV cameras are being installed to monitor them.
During the acclimatisation exercise on the Jumbo Savari procession route, the forest department is using a trolley with a metal detector and a magnet which moves ahead of the elephants and sucks nails and other sharp metal objects, to ensure that they don't prick the feet of the gentle giants, according to Dr Nagaraj, veterinarian of the Dasara elephants.
The weight training for the Dasara elephants has begun with sand bags weighing 350 kg tied to Arjuna, which will slowly be increased to 750 kgs equivalent to the weight of the golden howdah.
On Saturday, when the weight of the second batch of Dasara elephants was checked, Abhimanyu weighed 4,930 kgs, Balarama, 4,910kgs, Prashantha, 4,650kgs, Drona, 3,900 kgs, Kaveri, 2,830kgs and Vijaya, 2,790 kgs.
