Sanitation and disease control has deteriorated to new lows. Water ways have become mosquito breeding places. Waste management non existent.

Severely indicting the AIADMK-controlled Chennai Municipal Corporation for total administrative failure, DMK Treasurer M. K. Stalin on April 6, 2014, exposed the catastrophic deterioration of public sanitation and vector-borne disease control across the state capital. Stalin pointed out that under three years of ruling party neglect, major urban waterways—including the Buckingham Canal, Cooum River, and Adyar River—had been abandoned without regular desilting, turning into massive, stagnant breeding grounds for disease-carrying mosquitoes. He highlighted that municipal solid waste management had completely collapsed, leaving garbage rotting on suburban streets, creating severe public health hazards, and triggering widespread outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya among vulnerable children. Stalin recalled the proactive urban hygiene initiatives implemented during DMK governance under Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi and his own tenure as Chennai Mayor, which introduced scientific waste collection, modern sewage treatment plants, and regular fogging operations. He criticized Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for remaining indifferent to citizens' basic living conditions, demanding an immediate overhaul of Chennai's public sanitation. Stalin pledged that the DMK will restore world-class civic cleanliness and disease prevention across Chennai. He affirmed that comprehensive disease surveillance and clean water access remain basic human rights for all citizens.