Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said that residential structures in flood-prone areas should be built in such a way that they allow free flow of flood water on the ground, which would avoid damage.

He was speaking after flagging off the first trial run of the Pune Metro rail on the Vanaz-Ramwadi route. Talking about the last week's flood situation in the Konkan region's Ratnagiri and Raigad districts as well as Kolhapur and Sangli districts of western Maharashtra, Pawar said, "Cities like Mahad (Raigad), Chiplun (Ratnagiri) face flood situation. If these areas witness flood water reaching up to the level of 10 feet, then we would suggest that the residential structures there should be elevated with columns of up to that height."