Team News Riveting
Ahmedabad, April 21
Even as deadly COVID-19 had infected every nook and corner of the country, it however failed to cast its shadow in a village of Gujarat.
Shiyal Bet, a village in Arabian Sea and surrounded by water from all corners, is in the news. While the entire country is combating the COVID-19, the novel virus has failed to reach the village even after a year of outbreak. Gujarat had also seen a surge with over 12000 cases reported in the last 24 hours and the state figuring in the list of top 10 in terms of news cases.
Hamirbhai Shiyal, Sarpanch of Shiyal Bet, said that the village had not recorded a single case of coronavirus infection in the last one year. A massive vaccination campaign had been launched in the village, he said, adding that residents do not venture out of the village without any work.
Shiyal Bet, an island located off Pipavav Port in Gujarat comes under the administrative limit of Amreli district. It is situated 12 km away from sub-district headquarter Jafrabad and 190 km away from district headquarter Amreli.
The total geographical area of the village is 75.32 hectares. Shiyal Bet has a total population of 5,096 people. There are about 832 houses in the village that comes under Rajula assembly and Amreli parliamentary constituency. Jafrabad is the nearest town to Shiyal Bet which is approximately 12 km away.
Shiyal Bet is in the Arabian Sea, surrounded by water from all sides. This is such a place in Gujarat which is accessible only through boat. Though surrounded by saline water, Shiyal Bet also has wells of fresh water. Whoever wants to reach the village, has to take a private jetty at Pipavav. Along with villagers, even the officials of the health department use Fox Bat boats to reach the village.
Whoever wants to reach the village, has to take a private jetty at Pipavav. Living in the dark since independence, the village got electricity for the first time in 2016.
