Rao Bahadur Cruz Fernandez (b. 15 November 1869) was an Indian businessman. He was the longest serving chairman of Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) Municipality and is considered the father and architect of Modern Tuticorin.

Early life

He is from

Paravar Paravar (also known as Bharathar or Bharathakula and sometimes colloquially as 'Fernando') is a Tamil maritime community, mainly living in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and in Sri Lanka. Pandyas aka Bharathavars are the Ancient Sea Farers and ...

caste,

Personal life

He had one child, Joseph Innocent Fernandez. His eldest grandson was Regis Cruz Fernandez, who worked as a headmaster in a village school beginning in 1987. Regis had three children; Bennita Angile Fernandez, Regitta Filhppena Fernandez, and Joseph Innocent Fernandez.

Career

He was elected to the chairmanship of Tuticorin municipality five times between

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

and

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

. He was awarded the title of Rao Bahadur by the Government and was elected to the

Madras Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of the Assembl ...

. The Municipality building (Rao Bahadur Cruz Fernandez Building) is named after him.

Statues A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

of him are installed in front of the Municipal Building and also in the midst of

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...

Drinking Water Scheme

In 1873 an open channel of 6.4 km length was excavated by the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

at cost of Rs. 4,000/- for diverting the water of the Korampallam irrigation tank to a reservoir on the outskirts of town. From this reservoir water was distributed to

wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

in the town by means of

conduit Conduit may refer to: Engineering systems * Conduit (fluid conveyance), a pipe suitable for carrying either open-channel or pressurized liquids * Electrical conduit, a protective cover, tube or piping system for electric cables * Conduit curre ...

s and

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circula ...

s laid by the

Municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

at a cost of Rs. 9380/-/ In 1896 a comprehensive

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

scheme was recommended by the Sanitary Board. It consisted of two portions. The first portion was built in 1906 at a cost of Rs. 1,17,780/- and the second in April 1908. Later, it was found that the improvement of the Korampallam tank interfered with the

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

interests of the ''ryots''. Contamination in the

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

and other water borne diseases occurred frequently. Cruz Fernandez was Chairman of the Municipality during 1909, 1910, 1912, 1919 and 1925. He introduced a joint water supply scheme for

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

and

Palayamkottai Palayamkottai (also Palayankottai) is a neighbourhood in Tirunelveli City, incorporated within the Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation. It is situated on the east bank of the Thamirabarani river, with the exception of its downtown area, whi ...

from the

Thamirabarani River The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats, above Papanasam in the Ambasamudram taluk. It flows through Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi distr ...

near Vallanadu, which is 38 km from Tuticorin at a cost of Rs. 18,23,275/- in 1932. These Municipalities and the public works departments took action during 1914 to 1915. but World War I slowed its progress. In 1925 and 1926 the expenses of the project escalated to Rs. 27,83,765/-. Cruz Fernandez got this amount as grant and as

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

and completed the scheme in 1938. The people of Tuticorin could then access potable water. Earlier when there was

scarcity In economics, scarcity "refers to the basic fact of life that there exists only a finite amount of human and nonhuman resources which the best technical knowledge is capable of using to produce only limited maximum amounts of each economic good. ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

, Cruz Fernandez arranged shipment of water by

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

from Kadambur and by Thonis (Country Boats) from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. A water tax was levied on the people. Though initially it was criticized, the success of the programme silienced the opponents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Cruz Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu Rai Bahadurs 1869 births Year of death missing People from Thoothukudi Businesspeople from British India