This article refers to Atreyee or Atrai river. For other articles regarding Atreyee see Atreyee (disambiguation)

Atreyee (disambiguation)

Atreyee may refer to any of the following:* Atreyee river* Atreyee D. A. V. Public School , Balurghat* Atreyee B. Ed college, Balurghat...

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For the video game company, see Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

Atrai River (also spelt as Atreyee) flows in West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 and northern parts of Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

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In ancient times the river was called Atrei and finds a mention in the Mahabharata

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

. It is linked with Karatoya River

Karatoya River

Karatoya River , a small stream in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh, was once a large and sacred river. A channel of it presently flows by the ancient ruins of Mahasthangarh in Bogra District. The Karatoya mahatmya bears testimony to its past greatness...

. It originates in West Bengal and then after flowing through Dinajpur District of Bangladesh, it enters India again. It passes through Kumarganj and Balurghat

Balurghat (Community development block)

Balurghat is an administrative division in Balurghat subdivision of Dakshin Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Balurghat police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is at Beltola Park...

 community development blocks in Dakshin Dinajpur district. The river then renters Bangladesh. It splits into two rivers - the Gabura and the Kankra in Dinajpur district. It crosses the Barind Tract

Barind Tract

Barind Tract is the largest Pleistocene era pysiographic unit in Bangladesh and the Bengal Basin. It covers most of Dinajpur, Rangpur, Pabna, Rajshahi, Bogra, and Joypurhat districts of Rajshahi Division...

 and flows into Chalan Beel

Chalan Beel

Chalan Beel is a wetland in Bangladesh. It is a large inland depression, marshy in character, with rich flora and fauna. Forty-seven rivers and other waterways flow into the Chalan Beel...

. The river serves as a perennial source of fishing

Fishing industry

The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products....

, even though it is often the cause of flooding in many areas during monsoon

Monsoon

Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

s.

Total length of this river is approximately 240 miles (386.2 km). Maximum depth of river is 99 feet (30.2 m).

Early History

The Atrai was formerly one of the great rivers of north Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 for it was the main channel by which the waters of the Teesta discharged into the Ganges. In 1787, however, the Teesta broke away from its ancient bed and cut for itself a new and capacious channel by which it found its way into the Brahmaputra. Since then the Atrai has lost its importance and has now few traces of its former greatness.

It enters the district from Rajshahi

Rajshahi

The city of Rajshahi is the divisional headquarters of Rajshahi division as well as the administrative district that bears its name and is one of the six metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. Often referred to as Silk City and Education City, Rajshahi is located in the north-west of the country and...

 flowing through the Chalan Beel and falls into the Baral

Baral

Baral is a surname found in people from Nepal, India, and individuals of Jewish ancestry.There are over 100,000 Nepalese Barals who mainly constitute of the chetriya, brahmin and magar castes in Nepal. The surname Baral is found predominantly in India in individuals from Orissa and Bengal. Many...

 near the village of Nurnagar. Formerly, it used to pursue a course to the south and east after leaving the Chalan Beel till it fell into the Jamuna; but the middle portion of this old channel has been obliterated by the Baral and the Ichhamati, which, taking off from the Padma cut across the Atrai and overwhelmed it by copious deposit of silt.

The southern portion of the river in this district can still be traced from its junction with the Ichhamati at Boalmari; it then flows through Dulai and Bera thana and falls into the Padma near Ratanganj. This river presents one of the most striking instances of riverine changes in the district of Pabna

Pabna

Pabna is a town in Rajshahi Division ofBangladesh and the administrative capital of eponymous Pabna District. It is located on the north bank of Padma river and has a population of about 138,000.-Name:...

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