Chennai: Rapped by Madras high court, which has set a three-month ultimatum for state govt to remove encroachments on Adyar river, authorities bulldozed at least 50 houses in the Anakaputhur area on Wednesday.Water resources department officials said 593 families living along the river in Anakaputhur, in areas such as Quaid-e-Milleth Nagar, Thai Moogambikai Nagar, Santhai Nagar, and MGR Nagar Third Street, will be removed. “They are being provided with alternative housing, with each house being 390sqft. They are being relocated to Talaivaram, Keerapakkam, Perumbakkam, and Navalur, with each house unit costing Rs 17 lakh.It’s being given free of cost to the beneficiaries,” said an official.All the encroachments in Anakaputhur will be removed in a week, said officials. “The downstream areas like Thideer Nagar, Jyothi Ammal Nagar, Surya Nagar, and Malligaipoo Nagar in Saidapet and Kotturpuram will be removed subsequently. The court has given orders. We will proceed by removing houses in one neighbourhood after another,” the official said.Tamil Nadu’s additional advocate-general J Ravindran had told the high court that the encroachments stalled the govt’s Adyar River Restoration Project. The project, worth Rs 1,500 crore, was announced in three consecutive state budgets from 2023, but it failed to take off as the contractor could not prepare a detailed project report due to encroachments.The encroachment removal drive on Wednesday saw a lot of political action as well, with Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman carrying out protests. Speaking to reporters, Seeman asked why the govt was removing the encroachments of only poor people leaving out the bigger entities, including colleges, untouched. “Who gave electricity connections, voting rights, ration, put roads, and allowed them to stay here for 60 years?” he said, asking whether action will be taken against the officials concerned.