Afsa a 15 year old girl walks a distance of 500 Meters everyday to fetch water for her family. There are some days where she makes multiple trips. Afsa should be at school but instead finds herself saddled with this responsibility. VV-PACS Correspondent Shabnam reports on the issue. For the 250 residents of Mavaiya village in Uttar Pradesh access to water is a hard and often dangerous task. "It is really difficult to get water as we have to dodge cars and traffic on the road. There have been at least 5-6 accidents in the past year", says Afsa. The water connection to the village hand pump went bust some time ago. Things got more difficult when the well dried up 5 years ago. Now it's all about long queues and little tussles at the hand pump of a neighbouring village. Access to water in Uttar Pradesh, which is a primarily agricultural economy, has been recognised as a challenge by national and international agencies.The World Bank has recently extended a $360 million line of credit to the U.P. Government to ensure agricultural growth. Water use and efficiency is going to be a major factor in this. Access to safe drinking water is a right. These citizens deserve theirs. Cal to Action: Please call the Village Head on 09554650600 and ask him to ensure that a hand pump is installed in Mavaiya.