The concrete pavements are preventing adequate supply of water needed for growth of roots as the trees on the side of the highways and the capital.'

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan, while issuing a notice to the governments, asked them to file a reply on the steps for the protection of trees by Oct 7.

The petition added: 'Widening of highways and with the concretisation of pavements in Delhi, the pressure is put on the binding of the soil and the soil looses its grip on the trees as it moistens in heavy rains. Lack of care leads to uprooting of the old tree but the same is not replaced with the new one.'