Kolkata, June 9 : West Bengal's ruling Left Front chairman Biman Bose said on Tuesday that his party demanded the cyclone Aila, which caused enormous devastation in the state to be declared a national calamity.

"The Left Front discussed the issue of cyclone Aila at its meeting and demanded that the disaster be declared a national calamity," Biman Bose told reporters.

He said that an appeal should be made to MPs and MLAs to give assistance from their area development funds for cyclone victims. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had earlier written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to declare the disaster a national calamity and sought assistance of Rs 1,000 crore.

Cyclone Aila had slammed into the coast of West Bengal on May 25, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless after a tidal surge washed away villages and roads.

A central team, had visited areas in South and North 24 Parganas districts which bore the brunt of the cyclone besides the Darjeeling hills.

During the period, military and civil relief workers struggled to deliver food, fresh water and shelter to regions worst hit by the surge of sea water and destructive high winds. (ANI)