Non-planting of saplings along national highways in the State after uprooting several old trees for taking up road widening projects has come to light through a petition filed under the Right to Information Act by tree lovers.

Answering a set of questions from a Salem-based resident, officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have replied that a total of 7,214 trees were uprooted for four-laning project on NH 68 in Salem alone.