By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 2, 2018: The specter of drought once again is haunting parts of Odisha with at least 30 of 314 blocks in Odisha receiving deficit rainfall, officials said.

Six blocks received severe deficit rainfall during the current monsoon season. While 108 blocks received surplus rainfall, 170 blocks reported normal rainfall during June 1-September 2, a statement from Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) office said.

While the cumulative average rainfall of the state from 1st June till 2nd September comes to a surplus of 12.2 per cent over the long-term average rainfall, 9 districts experienced surplus rainfall of more than 19 per cent, the statement added.

Last year, the state government had declared drought in 70 blocks spread across 15 districts and announced a special package for 2017 kharif season to mitigate hardships being faced by farmers.

However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that several parts of Odisha are likely to receive rainfall over the next two days with the possibility of a heavy downpour in some places in Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara Balangir and Dhenkanal districts.

Rain and thundershowers are likely to occur at many places over north Odisha and at a few places over the southern region of the state till Tuesday, it said.