Beel

A beel (Bengali and Assamese: বিল) is a billabong or a lake-like wetland with static water as opposed to moving water in rivers and canals - typically called khāls in Bengali, in the Ganges - Brahmaputra flood plains of Bangladesh, and the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam.

Throughout the rainy season a haor is such a vast stretch of turbulent water that it is thought of as a sea, within which the villages appear as islands.

During the dry season water drains out leaving small shallow lakes exposing rich soil extensively cultivated for rice.

In the southern region of Bangladesh, important beels are Boyra, Dakatia, Bara, Kola, Patla, Chatal and Srirampur.

In addition to huge congregation of residential water birds, the Deepor ecosystem harbours large number of migratory waterfowl each year.