Iritty (Kannur): A small group's relentless effort to save a house sparrow trapped for three days behind the glass frontage of a sealed textile shop had a heartwarming ending in Kannur’s Ullikkal panchayat.

Principal District Judge K T Nisar Ahammed arrived in person at Ullikkal on Thursday and oversaw the unlocking of the sealed shop — and the sparrow was finally freed.

Since Tuesday, the house sparrow has been fluttering against the glass panes of the textile shop in a sealed commercial complex in Ulikkal, 10 km from Iritty.

Autorickshaw drivers and neighbouring traders spotted the bird after hearing its tiny wings thudding against the glass in a futile attempt to escape. But no one—not the Fire and Rescue personnel, the Village Officer, nor even the District Collector—could intervene, as the shop had been sealed by a court order.

The bird waited, as the wheels of justice turned, for a chance to fly free. The shop, part of two conjoined buildings sharing a common parking space, is at the heart of a bitter property dispute between two partners, Muneer and Firoz.

Firoz’s textile shop, YOX, and his half of the building were sealed two days after it opened six months ago, based on a court order, said Ulikkal panchayat vice-president Aysha Ibrahim.

The sparrow is believed to have entered the space between the shutter and the glass frontage through a pipe hole on Tuesday. "But it hasn’t been able to find the hole again to fly out,” said Beerankutty, a shopkeeper across the street.

Neighbouring shopkeepers and autorickshaw drivers have been pushing grains and water through the hole to keep it alive. "It's eating and drinking. But it’s too hot inside, and the heat in the glass enclosure could be unbearable. We don’t know how long it will survive," he said.

On Thursday morning, Beerankutty checked the closed textile shop first before opening his own. “I didn’t see the bird. I thought it had died. Then I saw it perched on the holder of a track light, just inches below the ceiling," he said.

Manoj Kumar, a mason who often rests on the shop’s steps after work, said he first spotted the bird on Tuesday evening. He took a video and went straight to the Fire and Rescue Station in Iritty. "I thought they might not take it seriously if I just phoned. They had to see it for themselves to understand how desperate the situation was," he said.

But Fire and Rescue personnel told him it was illegal to enter a shop sealed by court order, and advised him to inform the Collector. After being alerted, Vayathur Village Officer Vineeth M S visited the shop on Wednesday and waited for a directive from higher authorities to enter and rescue the bird. With no direction forthcoming, he left. He arrived Thursday morning again, expecting a directive. 

Manoj said the panchayat secretary was also involved. "But the officials felt it wouldn’t be right to break open a shop sealed by the court," he said.

The house sparrow, once a familiar presence in homes and markets across Kerala, has become a rare sight -- even though its conservation status remains 'least concern'. World Sparrow Day has been observed every March 20 since 2010 to raise awareness about their declining numbers. In 2014, the Kerala government announced plans to set up sparrow parks across the state and declared the Connemara Market in Thiruvananthapuram’s Palayam area as the first. In 2019, the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies installed 240 artificial nests across Idukki district to provide homes for the vanishing common bird.

When contacted, the Iritty Fire and Rescue Station reiterated that only the court could authorise intervention. “There won’t be any opposition. But we can’t act — the locks are court-sealed," an officer said. And so, as people debated property and process, the sparrow’s long wait ended the only way it could: the court heard it.