Coal accounts for major energy source in India and it will continue to do so for many decades to come. The demand for coal which was 103.7 m tonnes in 1977-78 is estimated to go up to 144.5 m tonnes in 1982-83. Shortage of coking coal reserve has called for greater emphasis on methods of mining which promote conservation. The production from opencast mines is expected to rise from 25 to 50 percent by 1987-88. The Central Mining Research Station (CMRS) is the premier research organisation under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Govt. of India to promote safety, conservation, productivity and efficiency in mining industry. Although it was established in 1955-56, its activities started from 1960. In India strata control observations in coal mines were made by the Bengal Coal Company in the forties and fifties but systematic and scientific research foundation was laid only after the establishment of the Central Mining Research Station (CMRS) at Dhanbad where the author started and laid the foundation work of research on 'Mine working and Mining Methods' in 19o3 with the main emphasis on the development of' techniques for improving strata control in mines. Since then great strides have been made in the in-situ and laboratory investigations and based on these data scientific parameters have been evolved which have helped CMRS to solve over 250 rock mechanics problems sponsored by the mining industry and hydel projects in India. The emphasis, during the past 17 years, had been on collection of insitu data pertaining to strata movement, load on supports and strength parameters. A team of over 60 research workers headed by the author has collected ,strata control/ground control data from more than 250 mine workings. Equivalent material model study has also been developed and over 30 cases have been investigated. The Directorate General of Mines Safety depends to a great extent on the advice of CMRS pertaining to Roof Support, ground control, pillar stability problems etc. There are other University departments also where some rock mechanics investigation is going on but their total contribution is less than 10 percent while the balance is being dealt by the author's group at CRMS. The type of problems which have been referred by the industry to CMRS are given in Table 1. A brief resume of the developments made by the CMRS during the past 17 years are discussed under the following heads:
1- Strata control parameters for longwall workings,
2- Assessment of pillar size in Bord & Pillar workings,
3- Extraction of coal under built-up areas, high flood level, rivers etc.,
4- Application of Equivalent Material Model study to coal mining problems,
5- Prediction of weightings/rock falls in mines,
6- Support in mine roadways,
7- Rock mechanics investigation in tunnels for hydel projects.
It is hoped that the findings of the research work stated in this paper will prove of some utility to the practical Rock mechanics engineers. Results obtained from metal mines and slope stability are excluded from this paper.
