Status-quo on felling Jessore road trees

The High Court has imposed a six-month ban on cutting down century-old trees on Jessore-Benapole highway.   

After hearing a writ petition in this regard, Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir passed the order on Thursday. 

The court directed the government to maintain a status quo amid debates on its plan to cut the trees to expand the road.  

On behalf of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), lawyer Manzill Murshid filed the writ petition seeking replies from the secretary of Road and Highway Division, Deputy Director of the Department of Environment, Deputy Commissioner of Khulna and Police Superintendent of Jessore.

Last July, the authorities took the decision of chopping down 2,700 trees on the road to implement an Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved project for widening Benapole-Jessore highway.