Residents of Shiyal Bet, a nondescript island in Gujarat’s Amreli district woke up to cherish a moment they had been waiting for nearly seven decades after the country’s Independence — electricity supply in their homes. With power supply reaching to this small island with a population of around 6,000, surrounded by Arabian Sea from all corners, Gujarat now has its every nook and corner connected to electricity.

Located around 1.5 kms away from Pipavav port in Amreli, state-run Pashchim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) is supplying power to the island through a 6-km undersea cable through Chanch island in neighbouring Bhavnagar district.

Chief Minister Anandiben Patel at a ceremony in Shiyal Bet dedicated the project to the people of the island and lauded the efforts of PGVCL.

In 2013 when Narendra Modi, then Chief minister of Gujarat, envisaged to supply power to the island. The project has been completed at a cost of Rs 18.5 crore within two years. It mainly involved laying of cables in high density polyethylene pipes on the seabed, installation of transformers, transmission and feeder lines and 500-2000 power connections.

Earlier, electrification was attempted from Pipavav port, the nearest mainland from the island, but it failed as there was a possibility that anchors at the port site could damage the undersea cables. Dwellers of Shiyal Bet, 90 per cent of them fishermen, till now were dependent on kerosene oil lamps or battery-run lights.