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.