Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel inaugurated a program to electrify Shiyal Bet
Miscellaneous
India
Gujarat’s Shiyal Bet on 11 June 2016 got electricity for the first time, after 70 years of Independence.
State’s Chief Minister Anandiben Patel inaugurated the 18.35 crore rupees project to supply grid power to the island through marine cables.
CM Patel also unveiled a plaque dedicating the electrification project to the public at a ceremony organised in the compound of the Government Secondary School in Shiyal Bet.
The Shiyal Bet project is an important part of the Prime Minister’s target to electrify 18000 villages in India by mid-2018.
Earlier, electrification was attempted from Pipavav port, the nearest mainland from the island. However, it failed as there was a possibility that anchors at the port site could damage the undersea cables.
About Shiyal Bet
• Shiyal Bet is an island, which is a part of Jafrabad taluka of Amreli district.
• The distance from Pipavav port to Shiyal Bet is 600 metres.
• Around 90% dwellers of the island are fishermen.
• There are 841 households on the island. Out of them, 600 have applied for and got power connection.
• Before electrification of the island, the Island functioned on a solar power system, kerosene oil lamps or battery-run lights.
