Chalan Beel is an extensive lowland area in the lower Atrai basin, and spreads across Singra and
Gurudaspur upazilas on NatoreDistrict, Chatmohar, Bhangura
and Faridpur upazilas of Pabna District,and Ullahpara,
Raiganjand Tarash upazilas of Sirajganj District. It consists of a series of beels connected to one another by various channels to form a continuous water body during the rainy season. Although the beel area expands into a vast water body with dense aquatic vegetation as long as the Jamuna remains flooded during the monsoon months, it dries out in the winter months, leaving only patches of water in the central parts of this zone.
Chalan Beel is fast silting up. In the past it covered an area of about 1,085 km² but was reduced to 368 km² in 1909, of which only 85 km² remained underwater throughout the year. It has since shrunk to only 26 km².
An estimate taken in 1945 found about 47 rivers and other waterways flowed into the Chalan Beel, a watershed of about 1,547 square miles (4,010 km2). In addition to being a crossroads for the many waterways it also served as the origin for the many rivers flowing south or east that eventually meet with the Padma or Jamuna. In the early 1900s, Chalan Beel began to be hemmed in by the construction of the Eastern Bengal Railway main line on the west and the Santahar-Bogra branch line on the north. The natural pattern of the water's drainage channels in this area were disrupted by the obstruction caused by the railway construction since railways in these low lands had to be built on embankments.
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