There are several areas under Keranganj Police Station of Dhaka district that are known as Zinjira. Keraniganj is a sort of island on the southern side of Dhaka City at the confluence of rivers Buriganga and Dhaleswari. Zinjira includes a number of places such as Kaliganj, Mandail, Char Kaliganj, Aganagar, Kathuria, Dakpara and Islamabad where a good number of small and medium-sized industries have sprung up.

The drive for establishment of medium-scale industries at Zinjira began after independence when most non-Bengali owners of industries left the country. Their abandoned assets went into the hands of their local representatives who expanded the existing enterprises as well as set up new ones.

The patronage they received from the government was a helpful factor. Soon the drive to set up new industrial and business ventures got a boost when potential entrepreneurs began looking for suitable sites for their businesses. Soon, their attention focused on Zinjira where lands were available at comparatively lower prices. Thus, industries of various kinds began to grow there. From 1986-87, the textile and garments industries set up there began to play an important role in raising the volume of our garment export.

Today, various Zinjira-made products can boast of fairly good quality and compete with products from other sources. The garment industries at Kaliganj area are said to produce high quality jeans, jackets and other export-quality clothing items. There are also reportedly some textile mills in the area, which produce sarees of such good quality that they can withstand competition from their foreign counterparts. It is estimated that there are more than 50 textile mills at Zinjira whose products have won a good name in the market. besides, some well- known brands of tar, washing soaps, aluminum products, nuts and bolts are also manufactured here.

However, some unscrupulous people in their bid to make a quick buck are said to be running large-scale rackets producing various spurious commodities and marketing them all over the country. We often read newspaper reports about existence of factories at Zinjira producing adulterated commodities including vegetable ghee, dry-cell batteries, soybean oil and even antibiotics, which find easy market with simple rural people.

Thus, Zinjira is as much a centre for good quality products as it is for spurious and low-quality ones. However, the overall situation there has been undergoing rapid change. The road communication has improved with the opening of the Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge over the Buriganga. The internal road network has reportedly also improved with the result that land price have gone up substantially.

With the rapid pace of development, there is a bright prospect of new industries and businesses being established in the area. As the industries here produce more and more good quality goods, the bad image of Zinjira will gradually wear off.

The government may help in the process by paying more attention to the development of genuine industries. At the same time, observers also feel that the authorities concerned should take stern measures against any enterprise found producing spurious and adulterated goods.