Determinants of Sanitation Compliance at a Mega Religious Gathering: Evidence from the Maha Kumbh

Mega religious gatherings attract large crowds from distant places. Due to the temporary nature of infrastructure and uncertainties in service demand, careful planning is required to manage sanitation. Even then, the infrastructure and staff deployed may fail to achieve the desired sanitation outcomes if pilgrims are not aligned with sanitation goals. The study examines the determinants of sanitation-related compliance using data collected during the Maha Kumbh 2025 in Prayagraj. We combine three primary data sources: a citizen survey, direct observation of sanitation conditions in public places and direct observation of toilet facilities. The citizen dataset contains 14,932 respondents across 25 sectors. We construct a binary measure of high compliance from self-reported behaviours. Sector-level explanatory variables capture sanitation provision, service delivery, monitoring, sanitation outcomes and religio-moral orientation. Logistic regression models with sector-clustered standard errors are estimated. We observe that monitoring is the most stable positive correlate of compliance. Religio-moral orientation is also positively associated with compliance. Sanitation provision variables show negative associations, likely reflecting targeted deployment towards more stressed sectors. In a robustness check, sanitation failure is negatively associated with compliance. The study provides a useful empirical basis for future optimization-based work on sanitation resource allocation.