For now, the families are using muddy water from the river to wash utensils and clothes; drinking water is bought from outside. After 7 pm, it is pitch dark inside the park; all you can hear is the roaring waters of the Krishna river and the cries of nocturnal animals.
"Fear has become a constant companion. Earlier, we were scared of wild animals like panthers; now, we have to fear calamities like this as well. We had bought new furniture, a fridge; all of it is under water," says Sita Mhatre, a staffer's wife who has been living in the park for 10 years.
Mhatre's family escaped the water by climbing to the roof of their house.
As the sun set on the second traumatic day of rain-lashed Mumbai, Umesh, Sita and many other families whose homes have been flooded and belongings washed away had just one prayer -- that the next day would bring with it a flood of bright sunshine.
Photograph: Manu A B