Pakistan's water bearers quench thirst in Ramadan, but fear for their trade

FILE PHOTO: Mohammad Ramzan, a 60-year-old traditional goatskin water carrier also known as a mashki, fills a water trough for pigeons along a road on a hot and humid day during the fasting month of Ramadan, as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Karachi, Pakistan April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

KARACHI (Reuters) - Mohammad Ramzan pumps water into a large goat skin bag before carrying it down an alley and up several flights of stairs to deliver to a resident in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

For more than four decades Ramzan has been a "mashki", or water bearer, an age-old profession now in decline as water companies and tankers increasingly supply residents.