Mumbai: No one owns Matunga Z Bridge as BMC, Railways pass the buck on cleanliness

The Matunga Z Bridge remains littered despite its recent reconstruction, with no clarity on who will clean it; (top) Garbage piles up on the newly built structure

The Matunga Z Bridge, a crucial pedestrian link between the Central and Western Railway stations, has become the latest casualty of bureaucratic buck-passing. While commuters dodge trash daily, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Indian Railways continue to point fingers at each other over who is responsible for keeping the bridge clean.

Despite being rebuilt and reopened in March 2025, the bridge now sees garbage piling up along its stretch, forcing students, office goers and residents to navigate filth every day. The bridge connects key educational hubs, including IES, Raja Shivaji school complex, Ruia, Ruparel, Khalsa, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, and Welingkar, as well as the nearby flower and vegetable markets and temples.

When the social media handle MumbaiMatterz flagged the issue, two contradictory replies followed, one claiming the BMC is responsible for maintenance and the other insisting the station master must manage it.

‘Why is this so hard?'

"I start every day with one eye on the watch and the other on the rubbish. Waste has been accumulating ever since the bridge opened," said commuter Rohan Deshmukh.

"What happened to Swachh Bharat? These drives seem to happen only for campaigns and photo ops. Someone needs to take responsibility," said college student Kartik Acharya.

"Z Bridge needs dustbins and daily cleaning, nothing more. Why is this so hard?" said commuter Amit Pai.

Commuters wade through filth on the Matunga Z Bridge amid an ongoing BMC-Railways blame game. Pics/Shadab Khan

Khalsa College student Amira Shaikh described the bridge as "dangerous" and "shameful for a city that boasts about its infrastructure. They rebuilt it but forgot basic upkeep."

Official speak

Railway officials clarified that the bridge is technically a civic bridge under the BMC, since no ticket is required to cross it. Railways only carried out the structural upgrade using BMC funds.

Civic officials said there is no specific policy for cleaning foot overbridges, with beat chowkies traditionally covering streets and alleys. They added that they would "look into the matter."

Backstory

The earlier open-air Z Bridge stood for nearly a century, adjacent to the Matunga workshop, and famously appeared in Bollywood films. It also carried local legends of ghosts, adding to its folklore charm before it was demolished for the new structure.

What commuters want

>> Dustbins
>> Dedicated clean-up staff
>> Regular monitoring
>> Daily garbage collection

Daily nuisance

>> Gutkha stains
>> Garbage piling up on the west side
>> Littered staircases