In Churachandpur and along the border with Bishnupur in Manipur, environmentalist Anish Ahamad spends the weeks before the monsoon knocking on doors with a simple, cheap lifeline: handmade sparrow nests that cost under Rs 5 each. Now in the seventh year of his “Save Sparrow” campaign, Ahamad has installed more than 600 nests and distributed nearly 300 free, and he estimates local house sparrow numbers rise by roughly 5,000 a year because of the effort.
Ahamad’s nests are small, pouch-shaped structures woven from natural fibre and light enough to hang on trees or walls. He advises families where to place and tie them and how to protect nests from gusty winds and heavy rain that can wipe out months of breeding. Timing is crucial: “House sparrows have an extensive breeding season from March to Sept,” he said. “They are prolific breeders, capable of producing two to four, sometimes five broods a year.”
Sparrows, Ahamad and local farmers say, are more than familiar backyard birds. During breeding season they eat crop pests and larvae, reduce dependence on chemical sprays and act as indicators of ecosystem health. Their long-term decline has tracked increased pesticide use, the loss of hedges and tree cavities, and expanding concrete surfaces; restoring sparrow populations, advocates argue, can improve crop protection and pollination at low cost.
The work, however, plays out under the shadow of violence. Since 2023, ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kukis have repeatedly interrupted Ahamad’s rounds. Ahamad, a Meitei Pangal from Kwakta village in Bishnupur district, says he has sometimes been forced to stay indoors for safety or relocate temporarily. “Due to the unfortunate events, I had to go without venturing out to work for a week,” he said. He adds that crossfire near his home has made it risky to move about: “Conflicting parties frequently engaged in fierce gunbattles… We used to get caught in the crossfire if we ventured out carelessly.”
Recognition has come but not enough support. Ahamad received the State Wildlife Incentive Award in 2022 and 2023, yet he continues the campaign largely alone and with limited finances. Over the years he says he has handed more than 35 wildlife species to the forest department, planted about 200,000 saplings and distributed 50,000 seedlings free under his green-cover initiatives.
What began as a promise to his late father, Abdul Ajij, has become a public act of quiet defiance: hanging nests and urging coexistence with nature “before the rain and despite the guns,” Ahamad says, threading fragile homes for birds through fear and uncertainty.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/manipur-man-races-bullets-storms-to-save-sparrows-with-rs-5-solution-installs-600-nests-distributes-300-free/articleshow/128584510.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-02-20 06:30:00
