Calcutta, Sept. 5 :    Calcutta, Sept. 5:  CESC's demand at dusk from WBSEB: 300 mw. WBSEB supply: 125 mw, and dropping. The result: dark and dismal evenings. With the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) slashing evening supply to CESC by 175 mw, power cuts ranging between two and three hours plagued parts of the city from Wednesday evening. 'Of the peak evening demand of 1226 mw, there was a shortfall of 205 mw. So, the city experienced rotational power cuts from 6.30 pm,' a CESC spokesperson said. From August 28, WBSEB has been restricting supply to 210 mw as CESC has failed to clear its dues. On Tuesday, with CESC continuing to plead inability to pay, the Board slashed supply to 150 mw. 'From Wednesday, we have decided to supply only 125 mw to CESC,' confirmed Rajeev Dube, secretary, WBSEB. 'We know that Calcuttans are facing problems, but unless CESC comes up with a feasible proposal to clear our dues, we are unable to supply power as per their requirement,' he added. The sharp slash in power supply was sparked by the failure of talks between WBSEB and CESC on Wednesday. CESC managing director Sumantra Banerjee and Bhaskar Roychowdhury, director (finance), met the WBSEB secretary and C.M. Bachhawat, member (finance and accounts), with a pay-back proposal. 'The proposal is not acceptable to us as it does not give a proper outline of how the dues will be cleared,' said Dube. 'We have asked them to submit a fresh proposal on Thursday morning. We will examine the proposal first and then call a meeting with CESC officials. There is no point in calling meetings without a feasible proposal from CESC.' A CESC spokesperson, while admitting that the matter remained 'inconclusive', added that 'Sumantra Banerjee will meet WBSEB officials on Thursday and resolve the matter'. Senior WBSEB officials reiterated their need to recover the dues - amounting to Rs 49 crore against current bills and Rs 36 crore against outstanding bills - 'immediately' from CESC. 'The West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL) is putting pressure on us to clear its dues. They are unable to pay Coal India because of this bottleneck. Coal India has given an ultimatum to all its consumers. Unless the Board clears its dues, the Corporation will not be able to pay back Coal India. This may even result in shutdown of thermal power plants in West Bengal,' a WBSEB official warned.