Anyone who grew up in and around this city will remember monkeys that did backflips for spare change, the little girl who aces balancing acts on tightropes even today, or the sight of crowds huddled around snake charmers. Many of them from the Nomadic Tribes (NT) and Denotified Tribes (DNT) call the Vangani-Rahatoli-Murbad stretch in Badlapur home. Just two hours from Mumbai, around 10 hamlets or padas in the region have one thing in common, they have no robust central library between them.

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Between her duties at a new under-construction library and resource centre in Rahatoli, Badlapur, social worker Deepa Pawar shares, “Among the NT, DNT, Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste communities that live here, the NT and DNT tribes remain disadvantaged even among the marginalised.” In collaboration with the village’s gram panchayat, the sheltered 800-sq ft space will soon bring Wi-Fi, textbooks, novels, vocational training and nutritious food under one roof. Pawar estimates the impact to span nearly 1.5 lakh residents.