The felling of century-old Jessore-Benapole highway trees has been halted for six months in the backdrop of protests against the government’s solution to widen the road.

While issuing the status-quo, the High Court today also issued a rule asking the government to explain why the decision to chop down the trees should not be declared illegal.

READ MORE: 26 green groups protest govt decision

The bench of Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir came up with the order and rule following a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.

In its statement, the court said the government can continue development work of the road, but without chopping down the trees on the road.

READ MORE: Trees to be traded for development

Last July, the authorities took the decision of chopping down 2,700 trees on the highway, many of which stand majestically on both sides of the road throughout well over a century.

The “development project” taken was to widen a 30-kilometre segment of the highway.

However, since then, protests have been brewing all over social media and environmental groups have been demonstrating against what they called a “shocking decision”.