Ekta Puc Centre

Our place is right on Lalbaug Road near the Salunkhe Vihar Road junction. It’s basically a small booth where we do the pollution checks for cars and bikes. The traffic is always moving past us and the air smells like exhaust fumes most of the time. We have our machine set up and we wait for people to pull over. Usually, someone is in a hurry and they want their certificate fast so they can get back to work. We stick the sensor in the tailpipe and watch the numbers on the screen. It’s a lot of sitting and standing in the heat. We have a small stool and an umbrella for some shade but the sun still finds a way in. Sometimes the machine acts up and we have to restart it which takes a few minutes. We see all kinds of vehicles from old smoky trucks to brand new scooters. The intersection at Salunkhe Vihar Road can get pretty messy during rush hour. We just stay in our spot and do the tests one by one. It’s a simple job but it’s what we do here at Ekta Puc Centre. We have a logbook where we write down the numbers and give out the slips. Most people are locals who live around Lalbaug Road and they stop by because it’s on their way home. It’s just a small roadside service and we stay open until the evening traffic dies down.