Life in a tunnel (8 photos)

In almost every country and in every city, regardless of the standard of living of that locality, there are homeless people. It is an unfortunate fact, but this problem cannot be solved for various reasons: insufficient funding, indifference of the authorities, and perhaps the reluctance of the homeless themselves to find a roof over their heads.





Glitzy Las Vegas, full of beautifully dressed men and women squandering hundreds of thousands of dollars in local casinos, has a downside to that glitter: the tunnels. It is impossible to meet well-dressed, healthy and joyful people here. A pungent smell hits the nose, poverty and a feeling of hopelessness reign all around.



Homeless people living in constantly flooded tunnels number in the hundreds. People live side by side with rats, sharing food with them from garbage dumps behind casinos and shopping centers.

7.5 meters down and here it is - the underside of the city of sins. They are called "mole people" and not all of them are unemployed - some work all day and simply cannot afford to rent a place in Vegas. Rent prices soared after 2012, so they simply have no other choice - the salary is simply not enough to rent housing, but they need to eat something, wash themselves with something and dress in something. Not to mention any accumulation.



But, of course, the majority of those living are marginalized. Drug addicts who use all types of hard drugs. Everyone who lives in this underground hell is at risk of getting a dangerous disease from unsanitary conditions or a rat bite, dying from a poisonous spider bite, or dying during the next flood.

Yes, the tunnels of Las Vegas, despite the fact that it is located in the desert and it rarely rains here, flood very quickly.



Despite the fact that the authorities directly prohibit feeding the homeless, in the carts stolen from the supermarket you can see canned food, sandwiches, sausages, and almost anything - residents of the tunnels get food from city garbage dumps. Some even got themselves mini-fridges to save food from the hordes of rats that crawl out at night to hunt. And in general, the inhabitants of the tunnels have absolutely come to terms with the fact that this is now their home and are even trying to establish something like a cozy life.



Rich visitors to Las Vegas are a great chance for thieves to get rich for their next dose. They sneak into casinos, can take money out of machines if a drunken visitor falls asleep during a game, or pick up defense tokens.

Among the residents of the tunnels there are also gambling addicts who squander their social assistance benefits in the casino instead of starting a new life. Or at least try.



The problem of homeless people in tunnels is far from new; they have been living there for many years. The community has already turned into its own universe, with a certain unspoken set of laws, rules and traditions. There is a kind of barter exchange where a resident can exchange food for clothes and vice versa. And there is even some semblance of a “store”, only free, where some homeless people give away unnecessary things for those who need them.



The police are increasingly starting to descend into the tunnels to drive the homeless out of there, however, after a “wave” of law enforcement officers, residents are returning to their places again, because they simply have nowhere else to go. They have no normal water, no normal food, extremely limited access to medical care, and really no electricity. Visiting criminals regularly wander there, eager to profit from things or to violate women.



Why can’t the authorities fundamentally resolve this issue? Most likely the point is that for all these hundreds of people they will need to offer an alternative: social housing, some kind of payments to help them get back on their feet, treatment for addictions. The police raids look more like something on duty than a real attempt to drive the homeless out of the tunnels - no one wants a crowd of poorly dressed and useless tramps to pour into the streets of the glittering lights and luxury of Las Vegas.