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THE ACUTE water shortage bedeviling the Pank Senior High School (SHS), a private second cycle institution at Bawjiase in the Central region, is endangering the lives of hundreds of students who have no option than to use an accident-prone road several times to fetch potable water every day. The situation has resulted in the frequent knockdowns of students by speeding vehicles en-route from Kasoa to Swedru. The recent casualty is a form 2 Home Economics student who was knocked down by a Hyundai Accent Taxi with registration number GS 8277-11 on February 8, 2014 around 6am while returning to the school after a tireless search for water. Charity Bartels, who suffered deep cuts on the head, right leg, hands and bruises on the neck and waist was rushed to the Bawjiase Health Centre and later transferred to Kasoa Hospital where she was treated and discharged. Worryingly, three months after the accident, the student has been experiencing chronic headache, a fracture on the leg that has reduced what once was agility in walking to limping. A visit by the Daily Heritage to the school which is located close to the highway portrays a beautiful building bridled with serene environment, but lacks regular supply of water and a stand-by generator to power light whenever there is lights-out. At the time of the visit, students were either obliged to access water from a shallow hand-dug well at the school�s premises which easily becomes muddy dipping a bucket into it or take the risk crossing the highway to find water. Some of the students who randomly spoke to the paper in an interview revealed that though the school has a lighting system, they are banned from using power at the hostels. �We often use candle light and other forms of lighting to learn in our hostels and use box irons in pressing our school uniforms because we have been warned against using the power or get sacked,� they said. The case of Miss Bartels� accident which was pending at Bawjiase Police station lacked the needed commitment from family members and school authorities to process the case for court as they have settled on out of court settlement. Inspector Aidoo, the officer-in-charge of the case, told family members that even when the case goes to court, the vehicle in question is a third party insurance and would qualify the victim to only a GH�1,000.00 claim. He added that after the accident, the driver spent GH�370.00 on the victim�s medical bills and that would be deducted from GH�1,000.00 claim as stipulated in the new insurance law for third party vehicles. When the paper contacted the proprietor of Pank SHS, Reverend Prince Ketu, for inkling into the issue, he explained that the school has spent over GH�7,500.00 on the water project, but the institution still faces the problems in that respect. Rev. Ketu blamed the student for the misfortune that befell her adding that �the time the accident took place was awkward, a period a student was not supposed to be out of the school premises.� Miss Bartels is, therefore, appealing to stakeholders and other organizations to help her seek a counsel to prosecute the case in court.