Opposition from locals in villages around the Vajont reservoir was suppressed by the police. SADE, a private electricity company in North-Eastern Italy, had support from Democrazia Cristiana (the Italian Christian democratic political party, which promoted pro-American and pro-capitalist ideology and was in power at the time). A general plan was proposed for the erection of seven dams in Piave valley, but from the beginning of the Vajont dam development, the project met with fierce resistance from local communities protesting against the forced sale of land to Società Adriatica di Elettricità (SADE) to construct the highest arch dam in the world. Vajont dam was an important industrial project for post-war Italy. Open image in new window 2.1.1.1 Risk Concealment Before the Disaster
In October 1963, a large landslide of 260 million m 3 of rock (equivalent of cube with a 650 m side) filled the reservoir of the dam, initiating a 150–250 m high wave, which overtopped the dam and wiped out several villages in the nearby Piave valley, resulting in the death of at least 1921 people. Toc in the Dolomite region of the Italian Alps. The Vajont hydropower station dam and reservoir was located at the foot of Mt.