The Great Indian Water Crisis: Sarnath Banerjee's Graphic Narrative All Quiet in Vikaspuri as an Acerbic Attestation of the Urban Water Crisis in India

ABSTRACT

Through a detailed analysis of the visual imagery as well as the verbal mode of narration, in Sarnath Banerjee's Graphic narrative All Quiet in Vikaspuri, the study suggests that the water-deprived, post-apocalyptic world that Banerjee reflects, is a spitting image of the Anthropogenic water crisis in India. Drawing theoretical insights from Madhav Gadgil, Ramachandra Guha and Dipesh Chakrabarty, the paper attempts to suggest the "Great Indian Water Crisis" is fueled by "short-termism," increased corporate privatization of water, myopic government development policies and erection of dams and other capitalist structures. The paper also aims to uncover how sociopolitical "slow-violence" is rendered to the natural resources under the garb of "Vikas" (development) and privatization. By contriving the narrative around the quest for the river Saraswati, Banerjee draws attention to the ever-so-real issue of groundwater overextraction in India, leading to its dipping levels and in turn, depletion. Further, the paper argues that "intermediality" of graphic narration abets Banerjee to cater to "the representational challenges" of the Anthropocene.