  Based on a system-reservoir model, where the system is nonlinearly coupled to
a heat bath and the heat bath is modulated by an external stationary Gaussian
noise, we derive the generalized Langevin equation with space dependent
friction and multiplicative noise and construct the corresponding Fokker-Planck
equation, valid for short correlation time, with space dependent diffusion
coefficient to study the escape rate from a metastable state in the moderate to
large damping regime. By considering the dynamics in a model cubic potential we
analyze the result numerically which are in good agreement with the theoretical
prediction. It has been shown numerically that the enhancement of rate is
possible by properly tuning the correlation time of the external noise.
