On June 4, 2019, residents of Tusheti held a protest in the village of Kvemo Alvani, Akhmeta Municipality, demanding the reopening of the Pshaveli–Abano–Omalo road. They gave the government a three-day deadline to begin draining the flooded area near the village of Khiso and to restore access to the mountain route.

According to Mtis Ambebi, at the 56th kilometer of the Pshaveli–Abano–Omalo road, near Khiso, a large rockslide that had occurred three years earlier had blocked the riverbed, causing water to overflow and flood a 600-meter stretch of the road. The water level reached about one meter, making transportation impossible. Some shepherds tried to move their livestock through the water, but several animals drowned.

The protesters said that the authorities were not paying enough attention to the problem and were doing nothing to drain the accumulated water.

Akhmeta Mayor Ioseb Kharumashvili and Kakheti Deputy Governor Givi Metreveli arrived at the protest. The mayor rejected claims that the government had failed to act promptly, stating that the road damaged by the May 10 natural disaster had been repaired quickly.

“We’re giving the government three days — if they don’t start draining the water, we’ll go ourselves and open the road by any means we can,” the Tushetians declared at the end of the protest.

On June 7, heavy machinery was mobilized, and by June 9, the Pshaveli–Abano–Omalo road was reopened for high-clearance vehicles.