Shiyal Beyt to see light finally

May 25, 2012, 

RAJKOT: The residents of Shilyal Beyt - an island off Amreli coast - will finally see the light of modernity as underwater cables will soon be laid to provide electricity for them.
Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (PGVCL), a state-owned power distribution company, has awarded the contract to a Vadodara-based agency to lay the cables for the island in the Saurashtra region.

PGVCL officials said they had initiated the process to provide electricity to Shiyal Beyt three years ago and, in fact, had invited tenders as well but no competent agency had come forward. The officials said the agency would soon begin the work to lay underwater high-tension cables from Chanch Bandar to Shiyal Beyt in Jaffrabad taluka of the Amreli district. "It will be a three-phased cable connection work and we will establish four cables, including a spare one," said a PGVCL official. "All necessary clearances have been obtained from government departments concerned."
The length of the cable network will be 6 km. The project cost is estimated to be Rs 20 crore. "We will provide 500 residential connections; one each for a flour mill, water-works, streetlights; and three for cold storage facilities," said a senior PGVCL official. "The main occupation of Shiyal Beyt residents is fishing. So keeping in mind the industrial aspect, we will provide commercial connections which can service three cold storages.''
According to PGVCL officials, the project will be the second of its kind in the country. Earlier, a similar project was carried out at Beyt Dwarka, an island off the Jamnagar coast.