Assam–Meghalaya unite through football to celebrate World Elephant Day at Naguapara

way2barak, Aug 12: The Forest Departments of Assam and Meghalaya in collaboration with Aaranyak, celebrated World Elephant Day 2026 on Wednesday organising the fourth edition of the Elephant Cup Football Tournament at Naguapara Upper Primary School playground.

The event brought together forest officials, local communities and footballers from both states to celebrate friendship, community participation and the shared responsibility of conserving elephants across the Assam–Meghalaya landscape.

Football served as a platform to strengthen age-old ties between communities and institutions in a landscape which is shared by people and elephants. The programme featured three competitive matches. In the first, the Meghalaya community team defeated Assam 2–0, while the Assam Forest Department team secured a 3–1 victory over their Meghalaya counterpart. The women’s teams of Assam and Meghalaya also faced each other, highlighting women’s participation in sport, community engagement and conservation. The Meghalaya women team won the match by 2-1.

An additional friendly match between a combined Assam–Meghalaya Forest Department team and the Naguapara regional team further strengthened the spirit of camaraderie. All the winning teams received token prizes of ₹10,000 and ₹5,000 from Goalpara Forest Division in Assam along with certificates and medals.

The programme was attended by senior forest officials and dignitaries, including Ms. Maureen Jannie A. Sangma, IFS, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Garo Hills, Meghalaya, along with ACFs B. K. Lohar and Anil Patil and Range Officer Annie Valentina from Garo Hills Forest Department.

Assam was represented by Goalpara District Commissioner Pradip Timung, Goalpara Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Tejas Mariswamy, ADC Pallabi Bora, District Development Commissioner Pranab Kumar Bora, Circle officer Sailen Das, Lakhipur Range Officer Moupran Gayan, Barpeta Road Range Officer, Dharmendra Das and MLA, West Goalpara, Pabitra Rabha.

Aaranyak representatives in the event included Dr Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar, Anjan Baruah, Abhijit Boruah, Anushka Saikia, Jyotibrata Mahanta, Seemanta Jyoti Baishya, Rupam Goyari and Ripunjoy Nath along with members of Elephant Conservation Networks (ECNs) from Lakhipur, Amtola and Rongjuli — Sasibhushan Brahma, Bonkim Rabha, Nabajyoti Basumatary, Jadikanta Rabha, Bikash Rabha, Pradip Daimary, Tirtha Roy, Kamal Hajong, Ramu Rabha, Tikiram Rabha, Bijoy Boro, Samar Sarma and Dhwnsa Brahma.

Adding a cultural dimension to the celebration, local singer Robert Sangma of Raksangre village performed in Garo and Rabha, bringing indigenous music into the festivities and engaging both players and spectators. Observed annually on August 12, World Elephant Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about elephant conservation, the threats facing their habitats and the need for sustainable coexistence. In Northeast India, elephant populations move across administrative and state boundaries, making cooperation among forest departments and local communities essential.

For the past four years, the Elephant Cup in the Goalpara–West Garo Hills landscape has used football to create a shared space for interaction, friendship and dialogue between communities and forest personnel from Assam and Meghalaya. The participation of women’s teams has further strengthened the event’s message of inclusive community engagement.

The Naguapara celebration ultimately went beyond the football field. It reaffirmed that conservation can be strengthened when neighbouring communities and institutions come together around a shared landscape and a shared responsibility – to secure a future where people and elephants can coexist.