The Hikggaha area in Bulathsinhala (Sri Lanka) is likely to be declared a forest reserve soon but racketeers are reportedly felling most of the trees there while the police look the other way and the Forest Department says it is on a gum tree. An official of the Society for Environment Education said deforestation was taking place all over the Bulathsinhala area while the police shut their eyes to it and the Forest Department lay paralysed.