Bengaluru,  Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has set a deadline for Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to complete two phases of Metro work in the city by 2024.

After participating in a function organised to mark the breakthrough of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) Urja at Shivajinagar Metro Station, Bommai on Wednesday said 56 kilometre of the Namma Metro network will be available to the people after the completion of the two phases.

After the completion of three phases, Metro services will become the lifeline of the city, he added.

"I have spoken to authorities to complete the two-phase work by 2024 though the original deadline is 2025. The plan has been reworked and rescheduled. I have asked BMRCL to speed up work as commuters are suffering. Once the project is completed, a large number of people will switch to Metro and there will be less traffic on the roads," Bommai said.

The TBM (Urja) was given a start by former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddiyurappa on July 30, 2020 at the Cantonment station.

After completing 855 metre of tunnelling, the breakthrough at the north end of Shivajinagar station took place on Wednesday.

TBM (Urja) started laying the first tunnel ring on August 20, 2020 from Cantonment station and successfully tunnelled up to Shivajinagar station.

Tunnelling using TBM is the most advanced PLC-based technology but operation of such machines with high precision needs highly skilled manpower and experts in the field.

The TBM will then be disassembled, transported by road to the launching shaft at north end of Cantonment station, where it will be reassembled and commissioned to construct a tunnel between Cantonment and Pottery Town station in Bengaluru.