Issue of River and Dam in the Fiction of Arundhati Roy

Abstract

Arundhati Roy is not only an author but also a committed environmentalist and campaigner for human rights. She is widely credited with revitalising the effort to halt the enormous Narmada Dams project, in particular the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Besides writing, she has acquired a distinctive place in the mind of people as an activist.  Roy shows a propensity to explore environmental issues and the devastation of the ecosystem due to human avarice in her writings. The river has been the lifeline of our society and culture since ancient times, but in recent times it has lost its glorious past, it has become contaminated and in various cases, its natural flow has been obstructed because of dam construction by providing excuses of modernity and progress. The river water is an integral part of our daily lives, as we drink it, use river water in cultivation, wash our clothes in it, and cook with it. River is a means of livelihood to many. Aquatic organisms find their means of survival there. However, the river has suffered a lot as a result of human interference. In her novel, The God of Small Things, and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy pens down the horrible condition of the river and unplanned dam construction. This paper uses the lens of river ecology to investigate the symbiotic interaction between humans and other species in river ecosystems.