A first-of-its-kind touch and feel garden for the visually impaired people in the country was inaugurated near Calicut University campus  by Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan.

The garden has nearly 70 aromatic, medicinal and herbal plants brought from various parts the country. The visually impaired will get an opportunity to study the plants not only by touching, feeling and smelling them, but also getting information about them through audio inputs.

• The garden is arranged in such a way that the visually impaired can move around freely. It has been constructed in a year with an aid of Rs 17 lakh from the Environment Ministry, the release said and claimed the garden is the first of its kind in the country.

• The names of the plants are written in English, Malayalam and in Braille and are set on at a higher level to help them. By touching a Sonic Labeller in the shape of a pen on the nameplate, the visitors can listen to complete details about the plants, the university said in a statement.

• The Speaker and other dignitaries, including University Vice-Chancellor Dr K Mohammed Basheer, went round blindfolded to get an experience of the garden as seen by a visually impaired person,