ASIA / PACIFIC
February 20, 2017
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
Elephant habitats shrink in India as encroachments increase
GAUHATI, India (AP) — Wildlife
activists say human encroachment in the
forests of northeast India have forced
elephants out of their natural habitats,
triggering conflicts with locals.
Conservationists have urged the
government to prevent encroachments
and free corridors that are used by
elephants to move across forests in search
of food. In recent years, there have been
many incidents where wild elephants have
entered villages, destroyed crops, and even
killed people.
Forest official D.D. Gogoi said in the
latest incident, forest guards had to set fire
to wild grass to drive back three wild
elephants that came out of the Amchang
Reserve forest in Assam state.
Villagers pelted elephants with stones
but were chased away by the animals until
forests guards came to their rescue.
“It’s an alarming situation. The
elephants rampage through villages in
search of food as their habitats are being
overtaken by people,” said Mubina Akhtar,
a wildlife conservationist. “The govern-
ment has to order the clearance of the
elephant corridors.”
According to the 2011 elephant census,
there were 5,620 wild elephants in Assam.
The state is preparing to hold a fresh
elephant census next month, Gogoi said.
THREATENED AND THREATENING.
Wild elephants stand amid grass after being chased
by Indian villagers near Misamari village on the out-
skirts of Gauhati, Assam state, India. Wildlife activists
say human encroachment in the forests of northeast
India have forced elephants out of their natural habi-
tats, triggering conflicts with locals. Conservationists
have urged the government to remove encroachments
and free elephant corridors that are used by the beasts
to move across forests in search of food. (AP Photo/
Anupam Nath, File)
Elephants are increasingly coming into
contact with people in India, as the human
population of 1.3 billion soars and cities
and towns grow at the expense of jungles
and other elephant habitats.
India’s elephants are also threatened by
speeding trains and illegal poachers
looking for ivory to sell on the black
market. Last year, 67 elephants were
killed in Assam, after 118 were shot dead
the previous year.
Forests guards are also trying to drive
away elephants from railway tracks near
the Amchang reserve area.
Remote-controlled cleaning robot pulled from Fukushima reactor due to radiation
By Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press
OKYO — A remote-controlled
“cleaning” robot that entered one of
three wrecked Fukushima reactor
containment chambers had to be pulled
out before completing its mission due to
camera glitches most likely caused by high
radiation.
It was the first time a robot entered the
chamber inside the Unit 2 reactor since the
March 2011 earthquake and tsunami
critically damaged the Fukushima Da-ichi
nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said
the intent was to inspect and clean a
passage before another robot does a
fuller examination to assess details of
the damage to the structure and fuel
inside.
TEPCO needs to know the melted fuel’s
exact location and condition and other
structural damage in each of the three
wrecked reactors in order to figure out the
best and safest way to remove them. It is
part of the plant’s decommissioning work,
T
which is expected to take decades.
The robot went only partway on a
narrow bridge into a space under the core
that TEPCO wants to inspect closely. It
crawled down the passage while blowing
off some debris with a water spray and
peeling them with a scraper on its head,
and about two hours later, the two
cameras on the robot suddenly developed a
lot of noise and its image quickly darkened
— a sign of a mechanical glitch from high
radiation.
The outcome means the second robot
will encounter more obstacles and have
less time for examination on its
mission.
The robot is designed to withstand up to
1,000 Sieverts of radiation, and its
two-hour endurance roughly matched the
estimated radiation level of 650 Sieverts
based on noise analysis of the images
transmitted by the robot-mounted cam-
eras. That’s less than one percent of radia-
tion levels inside a running reactor, but
enough to kill a person almost instantly.
TEPCO officials reassured that despite
the dangerously high figures, radiation is
not leaking outside of the reactor.
Images recently captured from inside
the chamber showed damage and
structures coated with molten material,
possibly mixed with melted nuclear fuel,
and part of a disc platform hanging below
the core had been melted through.
In this image released by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
(TEPCO), a remote-controlled “cleaning” robot enters
the reactor containment chamber of Unit 2 for inspec-
tion and cleaning a passage for another robot as
melted materials are seen at the Fukushima Dai-ichi
nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima
prefecture, northeastern Japan. The “cleaning” robot
that entered one of three tsunami-wrecked Fukushima
reactor containment chambers was withdrawn before
completing its mission due to glitches most likely
caused by high radiation. (TEPCO via AP)
Is your home plumbing
contributing lead to your water?
What do you think? | Comment period
Improved rapid bus service on
Division Street
Local partners have worked for three years to define how new rapid
bus service can improve transit reliability and safety on Division Street
connecting Portland and Gresham. The Metro Council will approve this
project so that it is eligible for a federal funding application.
Feb. 15 through March 31, 2017
ǁǁǁ͘ŽƌĞŐŽŶŵĞƚƌŽ͘ŐŽǀͬƉŽǁĞůůĚŝǀŝƐŝŽŶ
The M etro Council is scheduled to hold public hearings 2 p.m. Thursday,
M arch 23, 2017 and Thursday, M ay 25, 2017 and ǁŝůůƚĂŬĞůĞŐŝƐůĂƟǀĞĂĐƟŽŶ
2 p.m. Thursday June 1, 2017 at M etro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand Ave.,
Portland.
Submit comments Feb. 15 through M arch 31, 2017: by email to powelldivision@
oregonmetro.gov | by mail to M etro Planning, 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland, OR
97232 | by phone at 503-797-1750 or TDD 503-797-1804.
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ďҪŶŐdŝұŶŐsŝҵƚ͕džŝŶŐҸŝƐҺϱϬϯͲϳϵϳͲϭϴϴϴ͘
㗪⌈㒦◦廘䚣⽦⃧䏦廗ỉ㤝㗁夓娮⽦攂序㈵弉䮹䰯⊭侻䔺䏝䕂婈⇔Ʋ堿䈰⊔
⩊㐲䕂䳿榒ᳫ㑅亹娭䄆⌈濕妉㍣ㄑƲ
ؿऌ۰Ӗଜ࣯ضˬ˃ࢂɼМଞض߾оଥࢂʺࡶࢿݤଟܹЕ̛ୣձ
ߊԮҖչ̛ࡢଞʨТЬଞ˲߭Իءࠇѹए۰ࢷחࡶ؇߅ؿݤԮִ
Test your water for lead.
Regional water providers found elevated levels of lead in
drinking water in some homes and buildings. Lead can
cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant
women and young children.
Find out how to protect your family. Household plumbing,
paint and dust are just a few items around the house that
may contain lead. Call the LeadLine at 503-988-4000 or
www.leadline.org for a free lead-in-water test kit, blood
lead level testing and lead poisoning prevention classes.
Brought to you by the
Partners for Lead-Free Children
The cities of Gresham, Portland, Tualatin and the Burlington,
Lake Grove, Lorna, Palatine Hill, Pleasant Home, Raleigh, Rockwood,
Tualatin Valley, Valley View and West Slope water districts.
