Her latest novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, draws out the issues of the deteriorated condition of river due to construction of dams and the sewage system of industrial wastages, the ‘otherness’ of animals, birds, fishes and trees and their easy exploitation, the wiping out of sparrow, vulture from biodiversity due to excessive scientific manifestations, the predicament of zoo animals, the abolition of forest for the steel and mining factories and the uselessness of nuclear testing etc. This paper intends to objectify her concern for environmental degradation and her clarion call for her readers to save the earth from impending dangers. Arundhati Roy, the highly acclaimed postcolonial writer of Indian English Literature, amplifies her ecological concern in her fictional and non-fictional works. Though late, literature has not failed to uphold the very cause of environmental concern. But in case of environmental degradation, literature has been very slow to imprint pernicious effect of it. Since times immemorial literature has been mirroring up diversified phenomena of human civilization – love, war, revolution, ascendancy and descendency etc. Keywords: Environment, Deforestation, Poverty, Urbanization, Consumerism, Sustainable, Nation-building

She writes to inspire action and encourage her readers to participate in the process of nation-building and for creating a more sustainable planet. By means of this novel she encourages global dialogue on the environmental challenges. The cautiously nuanced words of Roy convey the magnitude of her literary dexterity.

Issues ranging from Indian vulture crises, deforestation, dismal condition of migrants and quarry workers, predicament of captivated zoo animals, deficient health facilities, scum-laden rivers, mushrooming slums, mounting poverty, speedily increasing dumping grounds, unplanned urbanization, unrestricted consumer indulgence, enslavement of Adivasi (tribal) girls and Transgenics have been comprehensively studied. This paper aims to study the environmental issues raised by Roy in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. The narrative that Roy architects in this novel reverberates with wholesome realities of the lives of common Indian people who face the tumultuous socio-political conditions.

It brims with spontaneity and a sense of profound thoughtfulness. Richly textured with multiple layers and seamlessly woven stories this novel also accommodates an enticing gamut of characters. Her recent novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017) is a fictional masterpiece with an epic-like scope. She ardently expresses her views about contemporary issues in her fictional and non-fictional works. She catapulted to fame after winning the Man Booker Prize in 1997 for her stunning debut novel The God of Small Things (1997). Arundhati Roy (1961- ) is an internationally acclaimed Indian female writer.

The utmost happiness