April 01, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 31: The visually-impaired persons in the capital have been provided a rare opportunity to feel nature’s beauty by touching and smelling flowers of various species.

Flanked by thick green trees, the Khizr-i-Rah has been developed in the residential area of G-6/4 near Covered Market to stimulate the senses of smell, touch and even sound.

It is a curious blend of flowers like motia, wallflowers, jasmine, nicotian, nyctanthaus arbour, gardenia and wisteria and many more, said Ghazanfar M. Khan, who was the master mind behind the garden, at a ceremony to hand over the facility to the CDA on Saturday.

The idea to develop the park for the visually impaired first came to Ghazanfar five years ago. Almost a year back, he started developing the empty lot adjacent to his house and transformed it into a “magical place” for the visually challenged.

He had no knowledge of all the necessary ingredients to include in the garden but Ghazanfar said this was just that started and he would provide all necessary equipment like tactile maps so that the special persons could move about easily.

“We will provide guides, I will also help those who cannot see, determine species of flowers from feeling their textures and from their different scents,” Ghazanfar said.

Nasmina, who teaches at Al-Khuldoon Special Education Centre and is herself visually impaired said, “This is a fantastic effort. I go with my family to public parks but there are no facilities for the physically challenged. But it’s been a beautiful experience to touch the flowers and smell their beautiful scent.”

CDA’s director-general environment Mazhar Hussain said Ghazanfar had shown us the direction. It’s sad that facilities have been included only in our building codes and not actually implemented to facilitate the physically challenged.

He said Islamabad would have another similar park. He also promised a transport service for the physically challenged to help them visit such parks.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Raja Zuqarnain Khan was the chief guest on the occasion.