public services

Illegal electricity imperils squatter neighborhood

Improvised electrical cables are often hung above trees and under bridges and culverts.

LA PRENSA

fatal light: Two residents of El Progreso No. 4 were killed after attempting to plug in illegally to the power grid.1092931

Carlos Chávez will never forget the day he returned to his La Chorrera home to find neighbors surrounding the body of his friend Irving Serrano, who had been electrocuted while trying to connect illegally to the power grid.

Serrano’s death was not the only one of its kind in neighborhood. In fact, two people have been killed and at least 10 others injured since the practice of rigging up illegal connections, known locally as “telerañas,” became common in 2004.

That year, a group of squatters settled in the neighborhood of El Progreso No. 4. Families put up makeshift homes with cinderblock walls and zinc roofs, illuminating them by stringing bunches of cables to local power lines.

As the neighborhood grew, so did the “telerañas.” Cables began to be hung above trees, under bridges and culverts, wherever necessity and ingenuity met.

“The cables are often tied to areas where children play or people walk,” said Donato Gutiérrez, deputy director of Fire Safety for the Bomberos de La Chorrera, who explained that this type of installation is dangerous for two reasons: because of the risk of fire and electric shock posed to the area.

Mireya Jaén, a community leader, said that since Serrano’s death, fear of the telerañas has spread through the neighborhood of El Progreso No. 4, but that many continued to make illegal electrical connections for lack of legitimate outlets.

Starting this year, however, the Ministerio de Vivienda (Mivi) has made an effort to legalize the neighborhood, offering to safely connect the homes to the grid operated by electricity distribution company Unión Fenosa Edemet-Edechi.

Jaén added that the company is awaiting the results of a census in order to determine the project’s estimated budget.