Rats also cause flood

Free Thinker *

A respectable minister has stated that the holes created by the rats on the river banks lead to the crumbling of the embankment resulting to inundation of nearby areas; when the water level rises in the river the rat-burrows on the banks are filled with water and within hours the embankment shatters and water erupts out from the stream.

This has probably happened in Khurai and Heingang constituencies of Imphal Valley. He was trying to explain it – perhaps he could not articulate it properly.

The fact of the matter is – seriously, rats normally live in prosperous areas where there is enough food grains and where tasty food items are stored and in abundance. Obviously Heigang and Khurai areas are prosperous areas these days and safe and secure too ; no one will deny this .

So, obviously rats do reside there in plenty. Moreover, river banks are a convenient place for them since they need to take water after every heavy meal. Rat-burrows might have caused breaches in a few embankments of the river.

In addition, CM Saab has made it very clear that the flood was caused by the impact of the Remal cyclone. It affected the entire northeast region. Remal brought storm and heavy rainfall in many parts of West Bengal and NE Bharat.

Many districts of Manipur were also badly affected by this cyclone including Imphal East and West. DC Imphal East innocuously says, ‘please bear with us’. Perhaps she is sincerely talking about the relief and rehabilitation issues. Breached river banks must be repaired futuristically - certainly not on an ad hoc basis.

Before the arrival of British Raj in Manipur the Ruler had Lalup-Pubas (conscripted soldiers by roster) and they were sent off along the river banks way ahead from the township-palace area.

As the river was about to overflow or running above the danger level – the soldiers broke the bank towards the side where human habitation was little or nil in the empty fields - miles ahead before the river approaches the township. So, the excess river water was diverted much before it entered the heavily inhabited area or the capital city (learnt from oral history from King's advisors family).

Ex gratia of two lac rupees for the deceased in the recent flood related incidents is welcome ( PM’s relief fund). So far 5 persons have died. Earlier for the Meitei – Kuki ethnic conflict a dead person was compensated with 5 lac rupees ; now the rate has come down to 2 lac. The cost of human beings has come down drastically in the last few months. This is a warning to all of us , a scary situation.

Since our economy is badly affected and our situation is still erratic the Centre knows our worth. Now the price of one person has come down to 2 lac rupees only. So, it is high time to appreciate our value.

Behave yourself, restore peace and normalcy and give up arms. Let us redeem our lost ethnic harmony and let us bounce back to our original form; let the people go to their original places. No one should touch them when they come back to their original habitation. Our mothers and sisters must be given this responsibility.

If abnormality continues our human lives will become cheaper and cheaper. Now it is high time to think seriously. If the chaotic condition continues for some more time the price of our life will come down further from Rupees 2 lac to 1 lac and even less than that. Beware!

Just as a reminder to ourselves - let us do some serious dredging of the rivers particularly in the greater Imphal area - it is very much needed. Then the weak embankments must be strengthened before the monsoon arrives; cyclone Remal is just a warning.

Only 1 lac people are affected and just 24 thousand households are displaced. However, the water entering the city is devastating. Because it destroys the goods and items of the bazaar shops in the middle of the city. What about their compensation? Even the Raj Bhavan is not spared.

Delhi’s compensation of fifty thousand rupees per affected family is less; it may be augmented to 1 lac. And most importantly the price of human lives in this corner of Bharat may be restored to Rupees 5 lac each instead of 2 lac. This is my personal prayer to the PM of Bharat. If it can’t be done, I urge the CM of United Manipur to add 3 lac each so that it becomes 5 lac.

Let us try to maintain the same value and worth we have had during the recent ethnic clashes. Drastic fall from 5 to 2 lac is unfair and rather shocking – thinking that have we really debased and devalued ourselves in the last few months?

When provoked with a query - whether rats are responsible for the recent fluvial flood as hinted by a prominent leader, the Union Minister of Education & External Affairs said, ‘Yes’, and he added – big rats are more responsible for such inundations.

So, in conclusion many have agreed that rats are also a cause for flooding. But who are these rats?